thinking space
Connecting NEETs with the labour market
In 2019, about one in five young people in Europe were unemployed. Eurostat statistics show that the average NEET rate in the European Union was still 17.2%. Beyond the immediate impact, youth unemployment has negative long-term consequences, both for the unemployed and society at large. Young people lose career prospects and are unable, due to financial constraints, to fully integrate into society and losing confidence in the state and its institutions. Potentials and abilities are under-used and in the worst-case young talents move abroad.
This section focusses on how different groups of active and inactive NEETs can be connected with a changing labour market. We look at employment opportunities for NEETs in specific changing labour markets such as the platform or the circular economy as well as at programmes that support the integration of NEETs in these new labour markets, programmes that work with specific groups of NEETs or programmes with innovative integration approaches.
Thinking Space Paper No.23: Working with NEETs Refugees in Rural Greece
Since April 2021, the Development Agency of Karditsa, Greece, namely AN.KA., one of “YES” Project’s Partners, initiated employment coaching sessions to NEETs refugees -in the broader sense, meaning both asylum seekers and recognized refugees- aged 18-29 y.o.
Thinking Space Paper No.8: An approach for fast track integration of refugees though employer involvement
According to Eurostat 44% of young migrants born outside the EU are at risk of being in poverty or socially excluded in 2018. There is thus a need for effective support services to enhance the early integration of legally staying non-EU citizens. The proposed programme developed and tested in a European project, aims at successful fast track integration of refugees into the labour market. One of the acceleration strategies pursued was the involvement of employers in an integration programme. With the exception of a self-employment programme and a programme for apprenticeships in crafts, the acceleration programmes were geared towards low skilled jobs. Basic principles were voluntary participation and self-selection.
Thinking Space Paper No.16: Successful search for a job online
How to start when looking for a job online? The seemingly endless possibilities the Internet offers, might feel overwhelming at first. Companies post job vacancies online; recruiters use professional online platforms to find fitting candidates. What is expected, what shall be taken into consideration, where to look for a job, how to present oneself? All these questions need to be answered to lead to the perfect match. This paper focuses on answering the above questions, shows opportunities the Internet search offers, and gives advice on how to best find a job online. Also, it provides an overview of (currently) interesting job websites in Spain, Italy, Greece, Poland, countries supported by the YES! project.
Confession of a NEET – Interview
The Italian writer and teacher Sandro Frizziero talks in his book “Confession of a NEET” about his own perception of NEETs who have been recovered from the education system. The protagonist of Frizziero’s novel is a NEET himself and still lives in a small room in his parents’ house. He sees himself as a revolutionary and spends most of the time in front of the computer, accompanied by his cats. He is very aware of the troubles of our labour market and overthrows society’s perception on NEETs as “lazy and unmotivated”. He starts to question everything around him and allows the reader to follow his journey to a new way of understanding what personal fulfilment means to him and that it not always passes through work.
In the following video, Sandro Frizziero and Giampietro Pizzo, President of Microfinanza Srl, discuss the novel, todays education system and more questions such as: “How important is the concept of family as a protection and welfare system?”, “What is the correlation between self-entrepreneurs and a minimum income?”, and “How to be a good teacher in times where freedom is so important to young people?”
Here is the link to their full conversation: https://youtu.be/_dab3Ow3U54