Helping the Employment of Youth in Satu Mare and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg counties

Closed

The title of the project speaks itself for what the two partners, organizations whose reason of being is the development of local communities at the Romanian-Hungarian cross border area, intend to accomplish: Helping the Employment of Youth in Satu Mare and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg counties. The project represents a concrete example of cross border cooperation to respond increased unemployment in the area, the low level of education of disadvantaged groups, the unskilled labor force, impeding the chances to get employed, the lack of harmonization between the educational offer and the needs of the labor market. The two target counties are both characterized by the fact that the population and economic life concentrate in and around bigger cities, a significant gap between the rural and the urban areas being easily observed. The lack of self-confidence as a result of repeated failures to work, lack of information and skills needed to find a job, the lack of a professional qualification or competence to allow the employment of qualified positions; lack of or insufficient professional experience, lack of practical skills - these are barriers to employment especially for the young people looking for a job. In some of the cases, access to the labor market is restricted because of the prejudices related to different vulnerabilities that overlap the other barriers. The project responds to these specific issues and needs by: providing professional information and counseling services to enable them to increase their self-esteem, employing job search techniques, personalized professional guidance services, delivery of learning opportunities to develop the necessary skills required on the labor market, support for employment.Going into further details, the first measure planned by the project initiators is to analyze labour market demand and supply, needs and behaviours that influence the employment, with a special focus on youth and vulnerable groups in Satu Mare and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg counties so that both within the frame of the project and besides, adequate support will be provided to facilitate access on the labour market. A strategy on cross-border accessibility to employment of young people and multiple opportunities will be developed so as to contribute to increased employability in the region and a flexible and inclusive labour market. Afterwards, the type of support offered consists in 3 main intervention areas: Career orientation and professional training, Support for entrepreneurship development, Assistance for employment and labor market integration. The frames to provide support are flexible and adapted to target group' needs, being offered on both sides of the common border: at least 16 workshops on career orientation and personal development, one-to-one guidance meetings for at least 80 people, authorized professional training to get a driving license provided for 30 trainees, out of which at least 20 are expected to get a professional license, B and CE category, - the need being already revealed by the labour market and local employers, training sessions on entrepreneurship for 30 people, couching and mentorship for developing at least 10 small bussines, exchanges of experience for at least 30 persons, informing and counselling meetings, guided internships for 40 people, 2 jointly organized job fairs with the participation of employers, occupation agencies and at least 100 people looking for a job. Modern electronic means, such as employment opportunities e-platform, will be also developed dynamic instruments to help the employment of youth, enabling interaction between the two interested parts and generating value for both of them. A newsletter on local and regional labour market demand and supply will be published in multiple editions with the same purpose. It will reach even those people who do not have access to internet. The partners take responsibility to continue keeping the e-platform and the (online) newsletter functional, so as to provide support for employment even after the project ends. As a consequence of project implementation, at least 200 people will be helped to integrate on the labour market. They are either inactive, unemployed or at risk of unemployment, not previously benefitting from professional assistance to access or the labor market. At least 60 employers in Satu Mare and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg counties will be involved, together with local action groups and other stakeholders acting for the benefit of local communities involved.The novelty of the project relies in the diversity and complementarity of activities proposed, so as to finally have an integrated approach meant to support the access on the labour market, through providing information, learning opportunities, examples of good practices of cooperation and communication, and, not the least, direct contact between employers and those looking for a job, but not having the chance in the absence of this project. Thus, going through the above mentioned activities, participants will acquire necessary vocational skills that will help them work in accordance with their willingness and skills. Moreover, after geting involved in the project and participating in the learning opportunities (such as employability strategy development, internships, job fairs or exchange of experience), various stakeholders, including employers and occupation agencies, will have a better understanding of the labour force and also will coordinate their efforts in the frame of a cross-border employability strategy.Consequently, the project proposed directly contributes to increased employment in the area of Satu Mare and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg counties, developing research and strategy that would bring coherence to various actions planned by private and public actors, providing individual and group information and counseling services to respond to the lack of information on the labor market and the evolution of the occupations required, as well as on the methods of seeking a job. The project also responds to the lack of motivation and difficulties of integration into the labor market, as well as lack of specific occupational skills for employment, through individual counseling to identify a professional path or and a job and through appropriate contexts to meet employers, to find more about the business environment and to learn from others.

Medium