Digital Response to Unemployment Problems in Western Balkans

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In modern economies, continuous economic restructuring, innovation and globalization have led to major transformations in labor markets, giving rise to pervasive skill gaps and skill mismatches. Also, skills mismatch appears to be a more permanent problem in the Western Balkan countries than in developed EU countries. Firstly, it is caused by the phenomena that old/traditional skills quickly become redundant when new digital technologies are introduced. Secondly, employers do relatively little in on-the-job training due to uncertainty induced by the poor investment climate. Thirdly, old/traditional skills have gradually become obsolete due to persistence of long-term unemployment. Finally, re-skilling has been inhibited by the low provision of adult and life-long learning education and learning opportunities. The current situation in terms of training and employment continues with a number of practical problems such as the sufficiency of acquired titles (titles that are less and less sought after on the labor market or not at all), an insufficient number of professional VET providers, and a lack of quality training programs for the needs of the market, all of which causes high unemployment and the impossibility of employment in well-paid jobs. Through implementation of DRUPWB project, we are aiming to: explore existing and develop 4-modular non-formal educational curriculum of vocational education in the field of employment based on intellectual services including STEM, soft skills, and diverse teleworking job market skills; to develop an innovative digital hub platform to be used by unemployed and NEET young and adult VET users; to improve knowledge, skills and attitudes of at least 540 unemployed and NEET young and adult people from involved partner countries in the fields of entrepreneurship, self-employment, programming and virtual assistant work; and to additionally strengthen and improve the capacities of VET providers in WB countries.