Vulnerable groups access to employment
Newsletter 2008-2
Publication date : 2008-07-29
With only two years to go to 2010, the employment rate
in the EU is still below the 70% target set in Lisbon in 2000. Low employment
among older workers, young people, those with disabilities and those who have
suffered an injury or illness at work is a major part of the reason. Over much
of the EU, less than half those aged 55 or over are in work and 20% of those
under 25 have never had a job. A Peer Review in Vienna in April described how
initiatives taken by the social partners in Austria have succeeded in helping
people in these groups find jobs or stay in work. Three websites were created
under these focusing in turn on work and olderworkers, work and disability and
health and safety at work. Through these websites, people looking for a job can
find details of vacancies and employers can find examples of good practice,
links to advice services and information on the benefits of employing the
people concerned and having a healthy workplace as well as on the incentives
available. Two further, more traditional, initiatives were
designed to provide direct assistance to young people – aged 15-25 – and to
those with an occupational injury or illness. Since 2005, the Give youth a
chance scheme has helped more than 1400 young long-term unemployed find
work through the support of a personal coach over a nine-month period. The Health
Foundations project helps those who have suffered an occupational illness
return to work and over the past year has achieved a 65% success rate. The Austrian experience demonstrates the importance of
intermediate labour markets in helping the vulnerable make the transition to
full-time permanent employment. It also shows the need to provide a mix of
support and advice, sometimes backed up by financial incentives, while
emphasising the importance of personal responsibility and of avoiding excessive
costs. It equally indicates the particular importance of providing support to
migrant workers as well as working within established and reliable structures,
namely those provided by the social partners and NGOs, rather than inventing
new ones. Although the peer reviewers recognised that some
aspects of the Austrian experience are difficult to transfer because of the close involvement of the social partners, others
elements are clearly transferable and have aspects in common with developments
elsewhere. There are already, for example, similar internet platforms in Spain
and Norway, developed occupational health and safety schemes in Finland, a Back
to Education Allowance for young people in Ireland and a New Deal for
disabled people in the UK. Lessons learned
