Y4J Global Study

Global
StudyDEX, S.A. & Youth4JOB project partners
December 2013
This publication is supported by the European Union Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity -
PROGRESS (2007-2013). This programme is implemented by the European Commission. It was established to
financially support the implementation of the objectives of the European Union in the employment, social affairs and
equal opportunities area, and thereby contribute to the achievement of the Europe 2020 Strategy goals in these fields.
The seven-year Programme targets all stakeholders who can help shape the development of appropriate and effective
employment and social legislation and policies, across the EU-27, EFTA-EEA and EU candidate and pre-candidate
countries.
For more information see: http://ec.europa.eu/progress
The information contained in this publication does not necessarily reflect the position or opinion of the European
Commission.

2 2
Index
1 Introduction and Justification............................................................................................... 3
2 Methodology......................................................................................................................... 7
3 Support services for young people seeking employment.................................................... 9
3.1 Information............................................................................................................................ 9
3.2 Support, professional advice and counseling..................................................................... 12
3.3 Specific specialised training and complementary skills..................................................... 15
4 Labour Market Mechanisms............................................................................................... 17
4.1 Job opportunities, Employment and Skills Observatories.................................................. 17
4.2 Support to mobility............................................................................................................. 20
4.3 Grants and allowances for youth employment................................................................... 26
4.4 Vocational training and traineeships................................................................................... 29
5 Skills forecasting and Anticipation systems....................................................................... 32
6 Gender equality................................................................................................................... 35
7 Summary of some local, regional and national measures and policies.............................. 40
8 Conclusions & Recommendations...................................................................................... 46
9 Bibliography........................................................................................................................ 50

3
1. Introduction and Justification
The present study, within the framework of the Youth4JOB project, is co-financed by the
Progress Programme of the European Commission and aims at identifying, analysing and
transferring services, programmes, projects and existing good practices in order to foster youth
employability in general and the transition from the academic/training world to the labour market
in particular.
The study is not intended to analyse the situation or causes of youth unemployment – there
is already an extensive literature in this regard -, but trends or measures recently applied or
initiated in order to fight this problem which is severely affecting the European economy and
social welfare. The measures to be studied are presented under different headings as a way of
organising them (Support services, Labour Market Mechanisms, Forecasting and Anticipation
Systems, etc.), and transversally analysing the main data regarding gender equality and youth
employability.
The latest statistical data from Eurostat justify the appropriateness of continuing working on these
issues, since they illustrate us the European Union has a population of young people between
15-24 years of age of nearly 58 million, 67% out of which are unemployed or economically
inactive:
The Youth4JOB project has 10 partners from 9 EU Member states: the Social Cooperative
Promidea (Italy); the Galician Directorate General for Youth (Spain); the CRIJ Côte d’Azur
(France); the Department of Youth of the Campania region (Italy); South-East Regional Authority
(Ireland); Latvian Maritime Academy (Latvia); ISD Noordenkwartier (Netherlands); Hellenic
Regional Development Centre (Greece); Agency for innovation and European Cooperation
Slovakia (Slovakia) and Agência de Desenvolvimento Regional Vale do Ave (Portugal).
The following data highlight the importance and differences regarding unemployment and youth
unemployment in the project partner countries:
Harmonised unemployment rate1
Unemployment rate
(%)
Youth unemployment
rate 15-24 (%)
Greece 27,3 58,00
Spain 26,6 56,7
Italy 12,4 40,2
Portugal 16,00 36,4
Slovakia 14 31,6
Ireland 12,8 26,6
France 11 25,5
EU-28 10,9 23,6
Latvia 11,9 24,9
Netherlands 7 11,4
EU-28 young population aged 15-24
57.5 milion persons
Employed
18.8 milion
Labour force Not in theLabour force
Unempl
5,6 milion
Economically inactive
33. milion
1 Fuente: Eurostat, Datos de Agosto de 2013
El total difiere debido a pequeños efectos del redondeo

4
Considering the high level of youth unemployment, especially in those countries most affected
by the current financial and economic crisis, it must be realised that younger generations are
among the most affected population groups. The case is particularly alarming in Greece and
Spain, where youth unemployment is almost 60%, and it is also worrying in the other countries,
where the youth unemployment rate is doubl or tripl the national rate.
Although the youth unemployment rate in the Netherlands is clearly below the EU average
(11.4% vs. 23.6% in the EU28), its progressive increase is also a concern in this country (its rate
was 7.3% at the beginning of 2011, which results in an increase of 56% in two and 2 1/2
years).
Actually, from the beginning of 2011 – an intermediate period since the outbreak of the crisis
-, the general trend in the abovementioned countries has been of a continuous increase of the
youth unemployment rates, except for Latvia, where a practically constant slight decrease has
been identified; and Ireland and Slovakia, where unemployment reached the highest rate in
2012, and it is currently similar to those percentages during the first quarter of 2011:
0 15 30 45 60
Greece
Spain
Italy
Portugal
Slovakia
Ireland
France
EU-28
Latvia
Netherlands
Unemployment rate (%) Youth 15-24 (%)
Harmonised unemployment rate
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
2011Q2
2011Q3
2011Q4
2012Q1
2012Q2
2012Q3
2012Q4
2013Q1
2013Q2
Youth (>25) Unemployment rate evolution 2011-2013
European Union (27 countries)
Ireland
Greece
Spain
France
Italy
Latvia
Netherlands
Portugal
Slovakia
United States

5
The problem is still ongoing and must be considered as a priority by all bodies responsible for
youth and employment.
In their statement at Youth Employment Conference in Berlin (July, 2013), the Ministers of
Employment of the EU and the Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion,
reminded that there is no “one-size-fits-all approach” solution to fight youth unemployment,
since the challenges change depending on Member States, which are responsible for enhancing
youth employment.
Within the EU framework, we are at the beginning of a new planning period (2014-2020), in which
the improvement of capacities and employment has clear goals and indicators within a smart,
sustainable and inclusive growth strategy.
Some goals of Europe 2020 and ET 2020 (Education & Training)
 Achieving an employment rate of 75% for the working age population (aged 20 - 64)
 Ensuring 40% of the population (aged 30-34) has Higher Education Certificates
 Reducing school drop-out rates below 10%
 Achieving 15% of adults (aged 25-64) participating in lifelong learning programmes
 Favouring mobility during the learning period:
o 20% in Higher Education and
o 6% in initial Vocational Training
o Mobility goal: 5 million people
Regarding education and employment for young people in particular, the package of initiatives
of “Youth on the Move” policies, launched in 2010 as part of the Europe 2020 Strategy for a
smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, must be highlighted.
Youth on the Move aims at improving youth education and employability in order to reduce high
youth unemployment rate and increase the youth employment rate – in line with the broadest
goal of the EU of achieving an employment rate of 75% for the working age population (20 – 64)
by doing the following:
• Achieving an education and training more appropriate for the needs of young people;
• Encouraging more young people to profit from the EU grants for studying or training
abroad;
• Encouraging EU countries to take measures to simplify the transition from education to
work.
In February 2013, the EU Employment and Social Affairs Council adopted the “Youth Guarantee”,
which obliges all member States from 2014 to develop concrete actions needed so all young
people under 26 will receive a “quality job offer, lifelong learning, internship or professional
training” within 4 months after completing their studies or being unemployed.
This measure contains on 6 billion euro and aims at enhancing the implementation of measures
to contribute to fight the critical situation of young people, based on the youth guarantee system
implemented in Scandinavian countries during the last decades (in Sweden since 1984 and in
Finland since 1997) and in Austria. The youth guarantee in Finland has achieved a great reduction
of youth unemployment, with 83.5% of young people having found a job, an internship, trainee
position or extension of studies within 3 months after being registered.
ItssuccesswilldependonthecapacityofMemberStatestoadoptcoordinatedandcomplementary
measures, through the services and support lines, which meet the need of young people and
labour market, and in collaboration with the corresponding bodies and people responsible for

6
different areas (educational system, youth informants, employment services, etc.)
As highlighted by the European Commission in a press release published in November, 2013 on
the Youth Guarantee, the cost of “doing nothing” is much higher:
“[…] the International Labour Organisation has estimated the cost of setting up Youth Guarantees
in the Eurozone at € 21 billion per year). However, the costs of NOT acting are far higher. The
European Foundation for Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) has estimated the current
economic loss in the EU of having 7.5 million young people out of work or education or training
at over €150 billion every year (1.2% of EU GDP) in terms of benefits paid out and lost output.
This is in addition to the long-term costs of unemployment to the economy, to society and to the
individuals concerned, such as the increased risk of future unemployment and poverty.”2
In this sense, the present documents aims at providing some data and experiences which may
be interesting towards creating and implementing new measures within the framework of “Youth
on the Move” and “Youth Guarantee”.
It is also complemented with 5 small-scale sectorial case studies carried out by Youth4JOB
partners on issues such as ICT, the maritime industry, tourism, entrepreneurship, and the case
of immigrant young people seeking asylum.
2 Press release “Employability for young people under 25: Youth Guarantee-12th of November 2013) - http://europa.eu/rapid/press-re-
lease_MEMO-13-984_en.htm

7
2. Methodology
The study has been carried out throughout the second semester of 2013 and, as it has been
mentioned, it was aimed at identify and analyse several issues which had been previously stated:
a) Support services for young people seeking employment (that is to say, information
services, labour market mechanisms, forecasting and anticipation systems, guidance
and accompaniment; specialised training and acquisition of complementary knowledge;
and employment opportunities)
b) Labour Market Mechanisms (Observatories; support to mobility, grants and support to
youth employment; vocational training and internships)
c) Forecasting and Anticipation Systems of needs regarding skills and knowledge
d) Gender equality
Thus, the work has been carried out in three parallel levels, collecting and obtaining primary and
secondary data, with the active participation of Youth4JOB partners:
Collection and
exchange of best
parctices
Analisys of
avaible studies,
pubblications and
data
Survey for
young people
Drafting and validation

8
For identifying “good practices” (policies, actions, initiatives, projects, etc.) and obtaining
homogeneous descriptions, an ad hoc questionnaire was created and all Youth4JOB Project
partners were invited to share not only their experiences but also any initiative of other European
countries which may be interesting, establishing at the same time some guidelines. Apart from
having the opportunity of approaching different interesting issues, the questionnaire allowed
us to classify measures according to implementation or application levels (local, regional or
national) and main development levels of policies:
1) Identification of political goals
2) Legislative policies
3) Executive policies
The results of this exercise of exchanging good practices have been used to illustrate different
kind of services and supports in the corresponding chapters within the study. They are also
summarised in chapter 7 and have contributed to the drafting of conclusions and considerations.
All the obtained sheets are included in Annex I of the present document.
As a complement and as an improvement for the initially foreseen methodology, ICT technology
have been used to create a survey on line aiming at obtaining first-hand information from the
target audience/beneficiaries of the different existing measures. Thus, 170 young people from
around 18 countries have assessed the services and have had the chance of submitting their
considerations. As it can be seen in the following graphics, 70% of the respondents were young
people completing their studies, and 77% were young people aged between 15 and 25:
47%
Age of the participants
15-18
Over 30
25-30
20-25
18-20
8%
15%
19%
11%
70%
1%
4%
17%
8%
Situation of the participants
Still in education
Working
Unemployed
Following training
Other
Profile of Young people Surveyed

9
3. Support services for young people seeking
employment
3.1 Information
Making the transfer from (formal) education to the labour market is a daunting task for many
young people. It is equally so for many of the supporting services in this area. It is very important
that all relevant actors act pro-actively in order to facilitate and assist in this process.
The beginning of the 21st
Century, has been characterised by a flow of information, which
sometimes is uncontrollable, through the different electronic channels, the so-called “information
society” (alerts, journals, blogs, social networks, etc.) This information flow should be added
to the tasks carried out by the different bodies responsible for informing young people or
unemployed people and companies. Although the multitude of sources and channels is clearly
an advantage (comparing the situation with, for instance, other times of recent history or with
countries with more restrictions on freedom of speech and communication), the risk of losing key
informations is also increased.
In any case, the survey carried out within the framework of this study confirms that the collection
and handling of information continues being the most demanded and needed service in these
field (ranking of 8.26/10), even ahead of other kinds of more personal support and guidance.
7,23
7,54
7,55
7,57
7,63
7,68
7,84
7,88
8,1
8,26
Support to Entrepreneurship & Self.
Support to Mobility
Guidance & Counseling
Observatories
Traineeship & practices
Grant & Allowances
Training & suppl. Skills
Identiﬁcation of job oppot.
Skills Forecasting & anticipation systems
Information
Valorisation of the importance of services to support the transition for youth from education to work
(rated from 1 to 10)

10
At the same time, the collection of information is, by far, the most demanded service by our
respondents (or the service they identify easily), since more than 80% confirm they have used
such service:
Nowadays, information for young people is coordinated through the different Youth Information
Centres, which cover all issues of interest for young people, as stated in the White Paper of the
European Commission “A new impetus for European youth”, from the 21st
of November, 2001:
“Participation goes hand in hand with providing young people with information. It is primarily the
Member States’ responsibility to inform young people, for example on European affairs. That is
why this subject also has to be addressed under the open method of coordination. It is important
to reach the young people themselves if possible, but in any case those who come into contact
with them in school, in clubs, in associations, etc. This mass information exercise will require a
coordinated approach, considerable resources and the involvement of young people in devising
and implementing these communication tools. This approach will be coordinated with the EU’s
new information policy arising from the governance principles in particular, and which is now
being formulated in close conjunction with the European Parliament.”
At the same time, the European Youth Information Charter, reviewed and approved in Bratislava
on the 19th
of November 2004 by the 15th
General Assembly of the European Youth Information
and Counselling Agency (ERYICA), states the principles for the working guidelines of youth
information, which aims at guaranteeing the right to information of young people. Its preamble
insists on the importance of access to information (and the capacity of analysing and using it):
Have you beneﬁted from
INFORMATION services?
Yes
No
Don’t Know
82%
10%
8%

11
“In complex societies and in an integrated Europe that offers many challenges and opportunities,
access to information and the ability to analyse and use information is increasingly important
for young Europeans. Youth information work can help them to achieve their aspirations and
can promote their participation as active members of society. Information should be provided in
ways that enlarge the choices available to young people, and that promote their autonomy and
empowerment.”
In order to highlight the importance of the digital era in youth information services, it must be said
that, in this statement, ERYCA adopts 16 general principles and 17 specific principles for online
youth information. Among these principles, we could highlight, for instance, that “Online Youth
Information shall be accurate, up to date and verified […]” or that “The content shall be based
on the needs of young people. Those needs have to be identified and evaluated in an ongoing
process.” Actually, its applications vary and depend to a great extent on human and economic
resources available for such information centres, and often, existing portals do not offer services
as complete and updated as desired.
Often youth informants are also sociocultural entertainers, and their competences and dedication
are not exclusively for issues regarding youth employment: they offer information and counseling
on leisure, culture, social integration, sexuality, etc.
In fact, to have first-hand access to information and counseling regarding economic issues
(grants for self-employment and entrepreneurial spirit, access to financing sources, Business
Angels, Seed Capital, recruiting incentives, etc.), sources multiply: local, regional or national
employment services, Chambers of Commerce, Regional Development Centres, Incubators,
Sectorial Business Associations. Some of them promote awareness projects, information or
training in schools, training centres or universities, but such services are often linked to specific
projects or programmes, so they do not offer a permanent and coordinated service at European
level. Besides, although such bodies normally offer business information professional services,
they do not count on a communication channel as direct with young people.
During the 2nd
European Youth Employment Conference (Paris, 12th of November, 2013), the
Heads of State have defined among their main priorities the entrance in the labour market and
the support to business creation.
The youth information centres network is the official way which offers the best coordination and
access to young people, but their resources and knowledge are limited on those aspects. On the
other hand, there are different bodies offering support for employment and business creation,
but they are not as linked to the youth. That is the case, for instance, of the Public Employment
Services, and their role is essential within the “Youth Guarantee” framework.
Besides, as unemployment rates rise, so does the workload of the Public Employment Services
(for example, when managing unemployment benefits). This may reduce their human capacity
to offer individual and personalised services, especially for a group of people who would not go
there automatically (since they cannot benefit from unemployment benefits, due to the fact they
have not worked yet– and, thus, not yet contributed to the social security system.
Having said that, it seems appropriate to strengthen the capacity of offering specific youth
information services regarding employment opportunities derived from the entrepreneurial spirit
and cooperation and coordination with other bodies responsible for such area, in line with the
European “Youth Guarantee” goals.

12
The lack of information and knowledge within the business world may also be extended to
other direct interlocutors with young people, such as teachers. Within this framework initia-
tives as the project “COOPERATIVÍZATE” (Cooperativise yourself) may be highlighted. This
project is promoted by the Regional Ministry for Labour and Welfare of the Xunta de Galicia.
It consists of a mobile school going to vocational training, occupational training, secondary
education centres and universities in order to promote cooperativism as a labour opportunity
for young people and enhance the teacher’s knowledge on this field, so the campaign effects
may continue throughout the teacher’s work. By doing so, around 182 teachers and 2,269
young people from 25 education centres within the region have benefited from the project (see
complete sheet in Annex 1.)
3.2 Support, professional advice and counseling
For a young person, it is not enough to handle only “good information” – that is to say useful,
selected, evidence-based and updated information - if it is not transformed into knowledge,
especially into knowledge to have access on existing services and resources at the time of
taking decisions which will affect their working life.
Thus, support, advice and counseling services, for individual or groups, have an added value
to such informations, offered by professionals and experts. According to different international
studies carried out by the OECD, the European Commission and the World Bank, such services
may be defined as follows:
“Professional counselling refers to the services and activities oriented to help people, of any age
and at any point in life, take decisions regarding education, employment and training and manage
their careers. These services may be found at schools, universities and colleges, at training
institutions, public employment services, at the work place, in the volunteering or community
sector or in the private sector. Activities may be delivered for individuals or groups and may be
face-to-face or at distance (including support lines and services online.) They include career
information (printed, through ICTs or different formats), self-assessment and guidance tools,
coaching, career education programmes (in order to help people develop their self-awareness,
awareness on the opportunities or knowledge for managing their career), test programmes (to try
options before choosing them), job search programmes and transition services.”
These accompaniment and counseling services include the generation of information (profile
assessment) and the use of available information in order to guide people at different phases of
their academic and professional career.
Like the other services, they have been well valued and well known by those who participated in
our survey (ranking of 7.55/10), although they are not as valued as information services, despite
being more individualised and, thus, more effective:

13
This may be due to a certain lack of knowledge and, especially, to the fact that such services are
not systematically offered in all European regions. Actually, only half of the respondents (51%)
declare having used these services:
7,23
7,54
7,55
7,57
7,63
7,68
7,84
7,88
8,1
8,26
Support to Mobility
Observatories
Grant & Allowances
Information
GUIDANCE & COUNSELING
services?
Yes
No
Don’t Know
10%
39%
51%

14
Professional guidance services are essential when supporting young people in periods of
transition and, especially, during their education. They are sensitive and relatively vulnerable to
certain changes: transition at, for example, higher education levels may lead not only to curricular
changes, but also structural (e.g. the need to leave their family for certain studies) or within the
educational environment. An inadequate change or poor academic results or results below
the expectations are among the main reasons for early school-leaving.
Young people entering the labour market are one of the groups of the society most affected
by the issue of lack of coincidence of skills at work. Researches has shown that, with no work
experience, their feeling of having inadequate skills or being over-qualified increases. If there is a
mismatch between the level of education and or acquired skills and required skills, they may be
considered as “over-qualified for the job”.3
According to the working document regarding the European Union Youth Report SWD(2012)257
final (Commission staff working document – Status of the situation of Young people in the
European Union)4
, Specific specialised training and supplementary skills), the “mismatch of
vertical skills” or “over-qualification” among young people with tertiary education degrees is very
common in Europe, since their qualifications are related to their job positions, according to the
International Standard Classification of Occupation (ISCO). In 2010, an average of a little more
than one fifth of the aged between 25 and 34 was considered as inappropriately qualified or
over-qualified.”
In this report, it is interesting to observe that the highest proportions of over-qualified young
people were found in countries very affected by the crisis and youth unemployment, such as
Spain, Cyprus or Ireland, where almost one out of three employed young people is working in
a position for which it is necessary to have a higher training. The report also includes a survey
where most of young people from some European countries (Estonia, Greece, Cyprus, Hungary
and Portugal) attest they have not received any kind of guidance.
Other studies, such as, for instance, the one on the so-called “NEETs” (Not in Education,
Employment or Training) by Eurofund in 2012, highlight some Member states have introduced
with a certain success bridging programmes and ‘pick-and-mix’ taster opportunities in order
to support students towards successful transitions. These measures have been introduced in
Austria, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg, Norway and Sweden. In Germany, many
measures aim at supporting students in making an informed choice about their career, and
a number of national programmes have been set up over the past few years to help ensure
successful transitions.5
.
The importance of professional guidance is confirmed by the results in Austria, Finland, Germany,
Norway and Sweden. They are the countries who dedicate many resources to professional
guidance, and as a consequence they are the least affected countries by early-school leaving
and youth employment. This is line with the data included of the European Commission, although
there is some confusion around Hungary. This warrants further research.
As happens with information services for entrepreneurs, in many countries professional
guidance is promoted by a mixture of bodies linked to education, employment and private sector
according to their competences and interest, without legal or political protection or coordination
at national or European level. Naturally, it is closely linked to the services of skills forecasting
of the labour market, and is framed within a great consensus led by the European Union and
national government with all educational agents and youth services, and employment services,
as well as business and trade union representatives.
There are many publications on this issue, but the lack of more detailed information on the use
of ICT technology in professional guidance services is remarkable. Once again, the multiplicity
of actors, initiatives and informations is counterproductive in this matter: universities, trade
unions, city halls, social services, psychologists, etc. have created online programmes and
downloadable applications - such as self-assessment tests -, but the criteria and formats differ
3 Cedefop 2010, p. 34
4 Accompanying the document: COMMISSION COMMUNICATION - Draft 2012 Joint Report of the Council and the Commission on the
implementation of the renewed framework for European cooperation in the youth field (EU Youth Strategy 2010-2018)
5 Eurofound (2012), NEETs – Young people not in employment, education or training: Characteristics, costs and policy responses in
Europe, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg

15
from one to another.
As highlighted in the introduction to the publication “Career Guidance – A Handbook for Policy
Makers (OECD/European Commission – 2004)”, to improve career guidance for young people,
policy makers must address challenges in compulsory schooling, in upper secondary schooling,
in tertiary education, and for young people at risk. Thus it is needed to have adequate human
and financial resources.
Among information and counseling services offered by the Austrian Public Employment Servi-
ce (PES), there is a single point as a first stop to obtain data on employment and careers. The
PES offers initial guidance for young people who have completed or are about to finish their
compulsory schooling and/or are looking for training positions, with the aim of guiding and
orienting young people when choosing their career, working in close cooperation with schools
(see complete sheet in Annex 1).
3.3 Specific specialised training and complementary skills
The acquisition of complementary knowledge through training courses in order to increase youth
employability capacity continues to be one of the most valued services by the respondents
(7.84/10):
However, such answers should be analysed in greater detail in order to be properly interpreted:
although the difference with other services is minimum, it is surprising that the acquisition of new
knowledge through courses (7.84) is considered to be better to acquisition of abilities through
internships and training positions in companies (7.63). In fact, among the young people surveyed
7,23
7,54
7,55
7,57
7,63
7,68
7,84
7,88
8,1
8,26
Support to Mobility
Observatories
Grant & Allowances
Information

16
(aged 25 or younger), this trend is slightly inverted, since the option of traineeship and practices
reaches a ranking of 8.15.
In any case, the performance of complementary training courses, normally of a short duration, is
a common benefit offered by the different employment and training services. Half of the surveyed
people declare having participated in some forms of training activity within this field:
Many of these training courses have a practical or professional approach or prioritise transversal
competences and abilities valued by employers (using automation tools, drafting and presentation
of CVs, project management, sectorial knowledge, etc.)
Apart from having adequate and relevant contents, it is appropriate that such training measures
offer flexible solutions, both in practical aspects (how, when, where the training is given), and
regarding the format of the courses (such as dividing subjects into smaller units or modules.)
It should be noted that such courses are generally only offered to people who have completed
their training and consequently are looking for employment.
Thus, it would be appropriate to promote a more active participation among Young people
regarding the acquisition of new knowledge through short courses in parallel to their studies or
vocational training, or by introducing such contents as curricular activities in order to shorten
times within the transitory period.
The organisation of training activities through courses, workshops, seminars, etc. is part of the
information and guidance services offered in Ireland by City and Country Enterprise Boards
(CBEs – which will be known as Local Enterprise Offices from 2014), which cover a wide ran-
ge of needs (networks, financial support, mentoring, etc.) It is interesting to highlight that the
contents of all training programmes are oriented for meeting the needs of the enterprise and
they are designed in collaboration with them (see complete sheet in Annex 1.)
SPECIFIC SPECIALIZED
TRAINING AND
SUPPLEMENTARY SKILLS
services?
Yes
No
Don’t Know
43%
50%
7%

17
4. Labour Market Mechanisms
4.1 Job opportunities, Employment and Skills Observatories
Beyond the existing public employment offer, identification of opportunities and employment
observatories are among the most appreciated services. Such services may be offered through
online platforms including databases and search engines or any other suitable form. These form
an excellent complementary service to the task that public job centres fulfil.
From the point of view of the surveyed users, facilitating the identification of job opportunities is
one of the most highly valued services (7.88/10).
However, only 44% of the respondents declare having benefited from it. This number decreases
even more (31%) when specifically talking about “Observatories”, and the lack of knowledge of
its existence or utility increases:
7,23
7,54
7,55
7,57
7,63
7,68
7,84
7,88
8,1
8,26
Support to Mobility
Observatories
Grant & Allowances
Information

18
Since almost ¾ of the respondents were young people studying or in training, the answers were
analysed corresponding to those people already in the labour market or employment seekers in
order to know if they had a greater knowledge or they used such services more, but results were
very similar.
Some European Observatories
There are a lot of employment observatories at sectorial, regional or national level. At European
level the European Employment Observatory (EEO) must be highlighted. It contributes to the
development of the European Employment Strategy by providing information on comparative
studies and evaluations on employment policies and market trends in 33 countries (28 EU
Member states + Turkey, Macedonia, Serbia, Iceland and Norway.)
The latest news and reports on the labour market may be found on its website (www.eu-
Have you beneﬁted
from the AVAILABILITY OF
EMPLOYMENT & SKILLS
OBSERVATORIES?
Yes
No
Don’t Know
28%
31%
41%
IDENTIFICATION OF JOB
OPORTUNITIES
services?
Yes
No
Don’t Know
17%
44%
39%

19
employment-observatory.net), through a search system. Quarterly reports or an electronic journal
can also be downloaded from there. It also includes a series of links to national authorities and
services, NGOs and European agencies or international bodies.
As part of the initiative Europe 2020 “An Agenda for new skills and jobs”, in 2010, the
Commission launched the project “Monitoring labour market developments in Europe”. It aims
to collect updated information on job offers, which may also be used as an early warning tool for
bottlenecks and mismatches in the labour market.
Such information is available through the two monitoring journals disseminated 3-4 times a year
(European Vacancy Report – EVM) and a biannual report (European Vacancy and Recruitment
Report – EVRR).
• EUROPEAN VACANCY REPORT – EVM
It offers a general vision of recent events in the European labour market, including data on
employment offers and recruitment which bring light to the evolution of requirements of the
demand for and skills required in the workplace. Such data comes from a wide range of European
and national sources.
o Labour Force surveys (data from the most recent employment recruitment for 29
countries) including a breakdown according to sector, occupation, educational
level and educational fields, as well as the relationship between unemployment
and labour recruitment (in order to measure labour market rigidities); statistics on
employment offers (vacancies data for 19 countries); data from the Temporary
Employment Agencies (TWA - 5 countries) and from Eurociett, the European
Confederation of Private Employment Agencies.
EVM offers periodical updates on the evolution of the following aspects of the
employment demand, such as:
o The number of employment offers and recruitments (quarterly)
o Newly created vacancies in Public Employment Services (PES), also according
to occupational groups (quarterly)
o Labour demand (quarterly)
o The educational level (quarterly)
o The employment offers according to economic sectors (annual)
o Etc.
• EUROPEAN VACANCY AND RECRUITMENT REPORT – EVRR. Last version: December,
2012
It offers an analysis of the labour market evolution since 2007, focusing on contractual
agreements, the sectorial demand according to sectors, increasing demands, vacancies difficult
to fill (bottleneck demands) and the needs regarding knowledge and skills. It also includes an
analysis of the market place of the recruitment agencies. The first report shows that the main
bottleneck demands throughout Europe are in health, ICT technology, engineering, sales
and finances. This publication is available in electronic format (only in English.)
The existence of such observatories coordinated at European level is highly welcome, since

20
they offer a vision on the labour market from a supra perspective (supra-regional or supra –
national.) However, towards the incorporation of young people into the labour market and
the increase of its impact on youth as well as the utility, distribution, access and visibility
of these tools must be increases, since they are not especially youth-oriented, and actually
they may be difficult to understand for a non-experienced audience. Once again, a greater
interaction is needed between employment services and youth information services, as well as
with the other bodies active in training or guiding tasks, in order to guarantee that the observed
trends are taken into account when guiding, training and informing young people.
In this sense, observatories are the main information base to offer “skills forecasting” and
anticipation services” (see chapter 5 of the present study).
The Czech National Training Fund, through its “National Observatory for Employment and
Training”, uses two methodological models regarding “skills forecasting”. Thus, and following
existing experiences from other countries where skills forecasting regarding abilities and
knowledge are turning into important services for employment institutions, it is developing a
new online platform: “Czech future skills”. This platform offers sectorial studies, forecasts for
41 sectors, analysis on the regional human resources potential, etc. (see complete sheet in
Annex 1.)
Regarding the coordination of the European Labour opportunities coordination, the existence of
the Eures network and platform must also be highlighted (see next chapter.)
4.2 Support to mobility
Learning mobility is an important way for young people to strengthen their future employability
and acquire new professional competences, while enhancing their development as active citi-
zens. It helps them have access to new knowledge and develop new linguistic and intercultural
competences. Europeans who are mobile as young learners are more likely to be mobile as
workers later in life. Employers recognise and value these benefits. Learning mobility has also
played an important role in making education and training systems and institutions more open,
more European and international, more accessible and more efficient6
6
The High Level Expert forum on mobility established by the European Commission declared
that “learning mobility should become a natural feature of being European and an opportunity
provided to all young people in Europe.”7
As is espoused out by the Youth on the Move initiative,
every year, aiming at promoting mobility for achieving studies, new jobs, training or establishing
their own business, the European Union supports more than 400,000 young people working,
studying or training abroad.
However, according to the survey of the Eurobarometer (Flash) “Youth on the Move” (2011), 77%
of youth declare not having had any experience abroad, while 30% declare having been abroad
during at least one month due to reasons other than leisure. Out of 20%, only half of it (10%)
has worked abroad. Considering the unemployment level in the southern european countries,
the intention of labour mobility among young people from these countries has increased, as
opposed to the general decrease of mobilities within the EU since 20088
.
Both experience and the capacity of international mobility offer clear competitive advantages
for young people when seeking employment, especially within a global environment: it shows
the learning capacity in other environments and capacity of adapting to other cultures; it creates
new contact networks; enhances language knowledge and general culture of people; allows
bringing new knowledge and working methodologies, etc.
6 Communication from the Commission “Youth on the Move – An initiative to unleash the potential of Young people to achieve Smart,
sustainable and inclusive growth in the European Union” {SEC(2010) 1047}
7 Report of the High Level Expert Forum on mobility, ‘Making learning mobility an opportunity for all’, 2008.
8 EU Youth Report – COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT – Status of the situation of young people in the European Union –
SW(2012)257 final

21
But spatial mobility may also occur within a closer territory (within the same country, toward the
capital or neighbouring regions, a couple of hours away from their place of residence, etc).
In both cases, as a job opportunity, it may be seen as a short or medium term solution, since
most people aim at developing their professional career (and their personal life) in their places
of origin. Aspects such as family, friends and distance (lack of communication) or languages
continue being important barriers when considering mobility as a first choice for entering the
labour market.
Actually, among the surveyed people within the Youth4JOB project, the support to mobility is
in the penultimate position regarding its importance (although it has been rated, as the others,
over 7):
In this case, and probably due to the fact that the survey has been distributed through international
networks and institutions active in cooperation projects, the percentage of surveyed people who
had benefited from support to mobility (43%) is double the European average as observed in the
above mentioned Eurobarometer (20%):
7,23
7,54
7,55
7,57
7,63
7,68
7,84
7,88
8,1
8,26
Support to Mobility
Observatories
Grant & Allowances
Information

22
EU support to mobility
The EU’s support for learning mobility through programmes and initiatives will be reviewed,
expanded and linked up with national and regional resources. The international dimension will
be reinforced. Youth on the Move will support the aspiration that by 2020 all young people in
Europe should have the possibility to spend a part of their educational pathway abroad, including
via workplace-based training. 9
Although all EU programmes offer the possibility of mobility for individuals and professionals,
from the new programming period 2014-2020, the importance of the new financial programme
of the EC regarding Education, Training and Sport: ERASMUS+, must be highlighted.
ERASMUS+ will have a new structure which will combine current programmes in those areas,
such as Erasmus, the Lifelong learning Programme (Comenius, Leonardo, Grundtvig and
transversal programmes), Youth in Action, Jean Monnet, Tempus or Erasmus Mundus. It is an
answer to Europe 2020 and ET 2020 (Education & Training 2020) strategies, and it will cover all
educational levels:
9 Communication from the Commission “Youth on the Move – An initiative to unleash the potential of Young people to achieve Smart,
sustainable and inclusive growth in the European Union” {SEC(2010) 1047}
SUPPORT TO MOBILITY
services?
Yes
No
Don’t Know
18%
43%
39%

23
Among the general objectives of ERASMUS+, the following must be highlighted:
 Supporting the acquisition of skills and improving studying and training abroad.
 Enhancing the quality of education within the EU and beyond.
 Supporting Member countries and associated countries in the processes for modernising
their vocational and continuing training.
 Promoting the participation of young people in the society.
 Supporting education and research regarding European integration.
In line with the goals of Europe 2020 and Education and Training 2020, the programme will
contribute to promote mobility of around 5 million people, especially young people, during their
academic or professional training (20% in Higher Education and 6% in initial vocational training.)
Among other EU interested programmes and initiatives which will enhance mobility of professional
Young people, the new RID programme Horizon 2020 must be highlighted, which will allow,
among other actions, the mobility of young researchers (especially through the continuity of
the Marie Curie actions) or the new cultural programme Creative Europe, which will facilitate
mobility of works, professionals and artists of all ages.
In order to extend the mobility opportunities for training to all young people, the Commission
School
education
Higher
education
Training for
adults
Professional
education and
training
Commitment
to international
dimension

24
has created, among all measures, a website “Youth on the Move” to provide information on
the training and mobility opportunities within the EU. The EU will develop a “Youth on the
Move” card to facilitate the integration process for the students in mobility abroad, as well as
a European Skills Passport based on Europass to facilitate the recognition throughout the EU
of the acquired competences of the European youth, apart from the formal education system10
.
The Commission has also launched the pilot Project “your first EURES job”, aiming at eliminating
some obstacles to employment mobility and studying new mechanisms for helping youth find
employment in any place of the EU. It is a pilot project to financially support young people aged
between 18 and 30 years when seeking employment in an EU country other than their place of
residence and to support companies interested in hiring young workers coming from other EU
countries.
Among the requirements for young participants the following shall be highlighted:
 Being between 18 and 30 years old.
 Being registered as job seekers in the corresponding Public Employment Services.
 Having been selected in a process carried out by the EURES Network.
 Being a national of any of the EU countries, legal residents in any of the EU countries.
 The job position for which the interview is to be carried out or to which the individual is
to be incorporated shall be in one of the EU countries other than the place of residence.
As for companies, they shall be small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with a maximum
of 250 workers, which may offer employment contracts for young people of at least 6 months.
The project contributes to the travel and allowance expenses of young people derived from the
selection interview, as well as to the expenses derived from the travel to another EU country
if an employment contract is obtained (the quantity varies depending on the distance.) On the
other hand, it also allows participating SMEs to cover the costs for integration programmes
(training, language courses, administrative support…) for hired workers (the amount depends
on the country and number of hired workers.) Its goal for the period 2012-2014 is unleashing
mobility and employment access for about 5,000 young people.
The EURES network and portal11
The programme “Your first EURES job” is inspired by the European portal for professional
mobility, EURES, which brings access to more than 1.3 million vacancies and 850,000 CVs.
Created in 1993, EURES is a cooperation network between the European Commission and the
public employment services of the Member countries of the EEA (the EU countries, Norway,
Iceland and Liechtenstein) and other associated organisations. Switzerland also participates in
the EURES cooperation. Joint resource of the EURES members and associated organisations
provide a solid basis so EURES network can offer high quality services for employers and
employees.
The goal of EURES is to provide information, counseling and hiring/placement (job search) for
employers and employees, as well as for any citizen wishing to benefit from the principle of free
movement of persons.
But EURES is much more than a professional mobility portal, since it has a human network of
more than 850 EURES consultants throughout Europe.
EURES has the important mission to accomplish in the European border regions: to inform and
help solve difficulties of any kind workers have.
Other initiatives to promote youth employment through mobility
The European Union has a long history supporting mobility of people in general and of the
10 See the portal of the Commission: http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/education_training_youth/youth/ef0024_en.htm
11 See https://ec.europa.eu/eures/home.jsp?lang=en

25
youth in particular. Under one or another name, the abovementioned programmes (Erasmus,
Leonardo, Grundtvig, Creative Europe/Culture, Marie Curie, etc.) and exchange of young people
and volunteering will continue being a priority of the EU action. These are the best known support
programmes at European level.
However, there is also an array of initiatives promoted by Member countries and their several
authorities, in cooperation or individually, which promote professional integration through labour
experiences abroad. In order to illustrate them, the three following types of programmes/grants
with different formats but same purpose are highlighted:
1) Eurodyssey: Eurodyssey is an exchange programme of the Assembly of European
Regions (AER) which allows young job seekers aged between 18 and 30 to benefit from
a traineeship placement abroad for a period between three to seven months.
The objective is to allow young people to gain professional experience at the same time as they
get an opportunity to improve their knowledge of a foreign language or improve their language
knowledge.
Nowadays, about 37 regions from 12 European countries take active part in the programme,
offering traineeships in companies and exchanging young people between themselves, according
to bilateral agreements. The amount of the grants and compensations for accommodation vary
depending on each host region (further information at: www.eurodyssee.eu).
2) Grants from central authorities: At central level, several ministries in many countries
offer grants for carrying out traineeships abroad, especially, in their diplomatic or trade
representative services. In Spain, for instance, that is the case of the ICEX grants
(managed by the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade, depending on the Ministry of
Economy and Competitiveness - www.icex.es), which, from 1975, train professional
young people specialised in providing business internationalisation services (it must
be highlighted that among the advantages of those grants towards labour integration,
apart from the experience abroad, young people benefiting from a grant also carry out
internships in the foreign trade or internationalisation services of Spanish companies,
which facilitates their chances of finding a job in their region or country of origin); of the
grants MAEC-AECID (managed by the Spanish Agency for International Development
Cooperation, depending on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation - www.aecid.
gob.es), so Spanish graduates and graduates within the European Union residing in
Spain may carry out training studies in foreign research universities, centres and bodies;
or of the grants CULTUREX (directly managed by the State Secretary for Culture –
www.mcu.es/becas ), which aim at providing practical training in cultural management
abroad for Spanish young people in international cultural institutions (festivals, shows,
museums, etc.) and Spanish commercial offices, embassies or consulates.
3) At local and regional levels, many authorities have promoted similar grants and
have strengthened the offer. Among the Youth4job partners, for example, the Youth
Department of the Xunta de Galicia has created, in 2013, the Galeuropa grants, with
their own funds, so Galician young people may carry out unpaid traineeship placements
in any EU Member State. Targeted at young people aged between 18 and 30, they
have selected 250 young people during this first year, who received a grant of up to a
maximum of 2,400 euro to carry out placements of up to 8 weeks with a minimum of 25
weekly working hours (see complete sheet in Annex 1.)
The support to mobility is an action and a priority in the youth employment policies at all levels
(EU, national, local or regional) and offers training and labour integration advantages, which are
very important for youth. Not all exchange programmes carry out an ex-post assessment to
determine the impact of the mobility on the labour life of their beneficiaries, but those who did
assess it have found that the integration results are much higher than other training measures.

26
However, and as it has been highlighted at the beginning of this chapter, international mobility
is a labour opportunity seen as a short or medium term solution. As almost any emigrant, the
young person who goes abroad for training or working aims at returning to their home country.
In this regard, the grants facilitating mobility towards the consequent labour integration in the
labour market of the country of origin are more useful for the youth and contribute to avoid the
so-called brain drain or escape of talent.
4.3 Grants and allowances for youth employment
In addition to the support to mobility, in order to fight the youth unemployment, the corresponding
institutions in many EU Member states have been creating financial support lines and solutions
which may unleash youth recruitment by the companies or non-profit bodies.
During this situation of crisis, many of them have adopted additional measures, often with the
active participation of social agents.
Among the active measures of the labour market, young people shall be entitled to benefit,
directly or indirectly, from financial grants and allowances for their hiring, being or not being
entitled to receive benefits (Reminder: in many cases, common grants for recruitment are linked
to the right of receiving unemployment benefits, and only those people who had worked and
contributed to the Social Security during a certain period are entitled to enjoy them, excluding
people coming from the educational system). This is important so they are not prematurely
excluded or abandoned, although they are not registered are job seekers.
Young people are a vulnerable group on the labour market and should therefore be considered
along the same lines as marginalised groups. Such vulnerable groups could be for example
women, people over 50 years of age, migrants, the handicapped, etc.
According to our respondents, the importance of those grants is naturally high when fostering
the transition towards the labour market (7.68/10):
7,23
7,54
7,55
7,57
7,63
7,68
7,84
7,88
8,1
8,26
Support to Mobility
Observatories
Grant & Allowances
Information

27
Application solutions and the kind of support vary depending on States, and may be strengthened
by occasional measures of local or regional administrations, although, as a general rule, they are
led by national authorities responsible for employment, and stated in their regulations.
To a large extent, the adoption of the “Youth Guarantee” by the EU Employment and Social
Affairs Council, which obliges every Member state, from 2014, to develop concrete actions
needed so young people receive a “quality job offer, continuous training, traineeships or
professional learning” after completing their studies contributes to creating new grants.
Among the ongoing solutions or solutions in process of creation, measures such as the following
must be highlighted: for example, reductions to the Social Security or awarding subsidies for
self-employers or companies hiring young people (in different conditions considering the kind
of contract – temporary, training contract, permanent, etc.); reductions or financial support for
young people for self-employment or to create companies; creation of grants for traineeship in
companies or institutions; or financial support for covering training costs linked to a job position
integration, organised or subcontracted by employing companies.
Approximately one third (32%) of the surveyed people out of the educational level declare having
benefited from some kind of employment grant. Curiously, when analysing the results of the
survey at a global level, including young people still studying, this percentage increases (37%):
GRANTS & ALLOWANCES
supports?
Yes
No
Don’t Know
16%37%
47%

28
It is possible that this difference, which seems somewhat incoherent, is linked to the carrying
out of traineeship during their studies, or that the surveyed people have included other kinds of
grants, such as the abovementioned support to mobility.
Althoughexistinggrantsandallowancesforrecruitmentareanecessarymeasureforfightingyouth
unemployment in the short term, certain counterparts shall be demanded for guaranteeing the
sustainability of the positions once the financial support is gone and, especially, for contributing
to fight against the so-called “garbage contracts” (temporary, low salaries, undervalued and
with few possibilities of professional and personal growth.) As it is highlighted by the initiative
Youth on the Move, “…Young workers are very often hired via temporary contracts, which
may allow firms to test skills and productivity of workers before offering them an open-ended
job. However, too often, temporary contracts are just a cheaper alternative to permanent ones,
particularly in countries where the gap in dismissal regulations between these contracts is high
(i.e. severance pay, notice periods, possibility to appeal to courts): then the result is a segmented
labour market, where many young workers experience a sequence of temporary jobs alternating
with unemployment, with little chance of moving to a more stable, open-ended contract and
incomplete contributions to pension provisions. Young women are particularly at risk of falling
into this segmentation trap. The successive use of such contracts should be limited, since it is
bad for growth, productivity and competitiveness: it has long-lasting negative effects on human
capital accumulation and earnings capacity, as young temporary workers tend to receive lower
wages and less training.
GRANTS & ALLOWANCES
supports?
(still under education
excluded)
Yes
No
Don’t Know
11%
32%
57%

29
Financial grants may also be found within the framework of broader sectorial programmes,
such as the “Learning and employment in artisanal vocation”, promoted by the Ministry of Em-
ployment and Social Policies, with support from the European Social Fund. It is an experiment
of a model for training young people in craft workshop, linked to productive sectors of national
tradition aiming at transferring specific knowledge and skills to new generations. In order to
make the programme more attractive, trained young people receive a grant of 500 euro/mon-
th, up to a maximum of 3,000 euro (see complete sheet in Annex 1.)
4.4 Vocational training and traineeships
As it has been proved in previous chapters, the support to the labour integration is often carried
out through practice training and learning programmes. Almost half of the European population
acquires their first skills and labour experiences through vocational training. More than a half
will develop such skills and learn new ones through continuous training and learning in the
workplace. The importance of the continuous training is growing as the labour force in Europe
ages and the demand in technological expertise grows.
The lack of professional expertise is considered both by young people and employers as one of
the greatest difficulties for hiring young people. According to the survey of the Eurobarometer
“Employment and Social Policy” (2011), regarding the issue of internships, 61% of the surveyed
people considered labour experience as the most important factor towards employability. Within
the framework of the survey carried out within the Youth4JOB project, the promotion of training
placements is rated 6th
highest among the different assessed services, obtaining a high mark
(7.63/10):
7,23
7,54
7,55
7,57
7,63
7,68
7,84
7,88
8,1
8,26
Support to Mobility
Observatories
Grant & Allowances
Information

30
As it has been previously highlighted, although the need of obtaining practical labour training
beyond the training offered during the selected academic or professional training is clearly
recognised, it also implies certain fears due to the risks of hiring in cheap conditions for
employers and not always rewarding the youth (due to the nature of the tasks to be developed,
the temporary limitations of the position, low income, etc.)
In any case, according to the aforementioned Eurobarometer, 61% of the surveyed people have
found a job thanks to having carried out labour internships (44% found a permanent job, 17% a
temporary job)12
:
In this regard, well-targeted, services focused on facilitating labour integration through continuous
training programmes in general and traineeships in particular in the place of origin of the young
people or through mobility grants may be considered as appropriate.
According to the abovementioned Eurobaromenter, traineeships are more common in the
northern european countries, where more than half of the surveyed people have had some
experience in this field (Estonia: 57%; Finland: 56%; Lithuania: 55%; Luxemburg: 54%; Sweden:
53%; and Denmark: 51%.) In the other Member countries, most young people have not carried
out any traineeship during their training or right after completing it. This trend would have to
improve including changes in the different labour regulations (some of them do not recognise
work experience contracts), it would also have to change due to the greater importance of the
traineeship within the Bologna process.
From an executive perspective, all previously mentioned services (information, accompanying,
grants and allowances, support to mobility, etc.) are valid ways for public administrations to
facilitate labour traineeships and programmes.
As highlighted by the European Commission in the report on “EU measures to tackle youth
unemployment” (D.G. Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion- June 2013), “…Effective
vocational education and training systems, in particular those that include a strong work-based
learning component, facilitate the transition of young people from education to work.” Thus,
the Commission launched in July, 2013 within its Youth Employment package, the “European
Alliance for Apprenticeships”, aiming at improving the quality and offer of learning throughout
the EU and changing mentalities towards learning of kind of learning.
12 Source: 2011 Special Eurobarometer 377 “Employment and ¨Social Policy”
Traineeship and its importance on finding a job
EU-27 average (2011)
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
It did not help you to ﬁnd a job
It led to another traineeship
It helped to ﬁnd a temporary job
It helped to get a permanent job

31
The Alliance will support national reforms intending to create or strengthen learning programs.
Within this framework, the Commission is inviting all potential partners to join the Alliance:
public authorities, companies, trade unions, chambers of commerce, education and vocational
training providers, youth representatives and employment services. They are urged to make firm
commitments and launch public and private financing for the schemes of kind of learning.
Within this framework, having the signature of the joint statement, the European representatives
of the trade unions and businesspeople have o-operated to focus their efforts during the six
forthcoming months on:
 Promoting the benefits of learning for employers and young people.
 Disseminating experiences and good practices in their own organisations.
 Encouraging and advising their member organisations regarding the development of
quality learning in tune with the qualification needs of the labour market.
At the same time, aiming at letting young people acquire high quality job expertise in safety, the
Commission will present a proposal regarding a quality framework for traineeship periods at the
end of this year.
But, at the same time, structural change measures in the training systems of each State are
necessary, such as a clearer emphasis in some countries on vocational training programmes
under the learning model (combining theoretical training and traineeships in companies.) Many
studies shown that the transition to the labour market is much quicker and stable in countries
where learning and vocational or continuous training include a training process with internships
in companies (such as Austria, Denmark or German), versus countries where vocational training
barely include experiences in “the real world” (such as Greece, Spain or Hungary.) Thus, it
is necessary to design courses in collaboration with companies and give value to vocational
training in collaboration with companies and social agents and as a prestigious and quality
option and not as a “second chance” for unemployment young graduates or a training pathway
for disadvantaged students.
The economic crisis has obliged many governments to search short-medium term solutions
and take palliative decisions. This hinders to a certain extent the implementation of changes in
training systems, since such decisions may be considered as preventive measures, with views
and results in the long term.

32
5. Skills Forecasting and Anticipation Systems
As has been previously highlighted, the mismatch between the training offer and labour offer
contributes significantly to unemployment. The large number of young people with start
qualification or professional training must be added to it.
All employment services must contribute to fight these mismatches, especially through
information and support. But, in order to do so, it is necessary to consider not only the current
demand, but also the future demand of the labour market and anticipated needs of it (knowing
not only the supply and demand but also the future needs regarding skills.)
Supply and demand forecast of qualifications are obtained through different techniques relatively
complex in nature involving analysing existing information on labour market future trends. The
opinion of employers, employees and scientific experts often differ with regard to this issue, but
all countries are being added to this trend, more or less successfully.
There are prediction and forecasting mechanisms complementary to the existing observatories,
which help all actors within the labour world take decisions and initiatives based on forecast
scenario of the labour market: employers, employees, young people/students (and their
environment, parents, tutors, teachers, etc.), social agents and, of course, policy makers.
Although the awareness of the importance of these services of forecasting and support to
decision-making is still “young”, it is positively surprising to find that the surveyed people
consider them very important and required, and rate them with a grade over 8:
According to the following results, 27% of the surveyed people have benefited one way or
another from forecasting and anticipation services regarding demand. In any case, 26% of the
“unknown” answers show this is still a lesser known service:
7,23
7,54
7,55
7,57
7,63
7,68
7,84
7,88
8,1
8,26
Support to Mobility
Observatories
Grant & Allowances
Information

33
These forecasting services act as early alert mechanisms to improve interaction between
education/training systems and the labour market, avoiding future imbalances. As has been
highlighted, the obtained information contribute to the decision-making at all levels. However,
as in the case of the observatories, its handling, access and interpretation may be somewhat
complicated for final beneficiaries (especially for young people). These services should be a
working tool for all agents, particularly for the employment services and youth informants.
Methodology for comparative forecasts regarding the skills demand has dramatically improved
throughout the last few years, especially under the direction of the “European Centre for the
Development of Vocational Training” (Cedefop), which forecasts a growing skill demand
regarding highly qualified non-manual occupations, as well as more elementary occupation,
and, on the other hand, a drastic decrease in the demand in non-qualified manual occupations.
Some European initiatives
1) Cedefop: Cedefop carries out several research activities at European level aiming at
identifying and anticipating future needs and possible mismatches regarding qualification
and skills. They periodically produce reports and data on supply and demand forecasts
in Europe and analyse the potential imbalances in the labour market. Cedefop also
investigates the qualification and skill needs in certain sectors and explores a common
approach regarding surveys to companies on the change of qualification needs. At
the same time, the Centre manages Skillsnet, a network of experts in the field of early
identification of qualification needs. All these activities support the implementation of
the initiative of the European Commission: An Agenda for new skills and jobs (more
information at www.cedefop.europa.eu)
2) New Skills for New Jobs: Already mentioned in the chapter on observatories, this
initiative was created to promote a better anticipation regarding future qualifications
and needs of the labour market, approaching the training and labour worlds. Among its
practical measures, the Commission highlights the following:
a. Forecasts of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training
(Cedefop).
SKILLS FORECASTING &
ANTICIPATION SYSTEM
services?
Yes
No
Don’t Know
26%27%
47%

34
b. Analysis of the emerging trends at sectorial level and creation of sectorial training
councils.
c. The European framework for key competences for lifelong learning, which
defines the eight main indispensable competences to succeed in a knowledge
society.
d. Ongoing research with ILO and OECD.
e. European Skills Competences and Occupations (ESCO), still under development,
which will describe the most important competences and skills for each job
position.
f. The European Qualifications Framework, which defines qualifications depending
on the learning results so everyone understands what they mean in practice.
g. EU financing through the European Social Fund and the Lifelong Learning
Programme.
h. The Universities and Business Forum, which fosters dialog between companies
and training and education centres.
3) EU Skills Panorama. Similarly, the Panorama offers information and intelligence,
which helps improve the assessment capacity and skills projection, as well as inform
governance of the skills, projecting the competences needs; improving the response
capacity of the education and training systems; and enhancing the adaptation of the
labour supply and demand throughout Europe. Thus, it aims at offering a) access to
labour market and information and “intelligence” on competences; and b) information on
methodologies used to create information and intelligence regarding the labour market
and competences, understanding and meeting the needs of the users. Its public website:
a. Acts as a central access point for all data, information and intelligence on skills
trends regarding occupations and sectors at national and EU level.
b. Offers a European perspective on trends regarding labour force supply and
demand and mismatches.
c. Guides users towards national information sources regarding skills.
d. Guides users towards the methods used to create information on skills projection
(More information at http://euskillspanorama.ec.europa.eu )
Forecast and anticipation mechanisms may turn into the main tool for planning employment
policies at all levels and support tasks of all people and active organisms regarding information,
counseling, guidance and labour training. At the same time, they also contribute to the political
debate and strategic decision-making by policy makers, in order to guarantee that all services
linked to employment, in general, and to training in particular, consider future skills forecasts.

35
6. Gender equality
In the EU, 145.2 women graduate for every 100 men in higher educations (insert reference here).
This means that 45% more women graduate than men, even though more men than women
enter into vocational training programmes.
Women per 100 men graduating from ISCED levels 5-613

Turkey 84,3 Italy 152,8
Switzerland 91,5 Norway 156,4
Japan 93,9 Bulgaria 157,0
Austria 113,2 Finland 158,1
Ireland 122,0 Romania 160,4
Malta 123,1 Czech Republic 164,6
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the 127,3 Sweden 169,5
United Kingdom 128,9 Hungary 176,2
Luxembourg 130,7 Slovakia 177,2
Netherlands 132,1 Lithuania 182,0
Cyprus 133,7 Poland 194,4
Germany 133,9 Estonia 213,8
Spain 134,7 Latvia 234,5
Denmark 137,4 France not available
United States 140,6 Iceland not available
Belgium 144,0 Croatia not available
Greece 148,8 Albania not available
Slovenia 152,1 European Union
(27 countries)
145,2
Portugal 152,2 Euro area (15 countries) 134,8
13
However, according to the Eurostat publication “Youth on the Move – A statistical portrait
(2009)”, the number of women is especially higher during the first stage (ISCED 5) and in some
specialties linked to education, humanities or arts, while the number of men is higher during the
second stage (ISCED 6).
At the same time, regarding early school leaving, the latest available data show that – except
for Bulgaria and its neighbour countries Turkey and Macedonia – early school leaving is more
common in men (with an average early school leaving rate of 14.4% for men, versus 10.9% for
women in EU28 countries):
13 Source: EUROSTAT

36
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
TU
FYROM
Swi
NO
IC
UK
SE
FI
SK
SL
RO
PT
PL
AT
NT
MT
HU
LX
LT
LV
CV
IT
CR
FR
SP
GR
IR
EST
GE
DK
CZ
BG
BE
EU 17
EU 27
EU 28
Females Males
Early leavers from education and training by sex & employment status

37
Although women have a higher participation rate in university degrees and suffer less from early
school leaving, the unemployment rate difference among women and men under 25 at EU level
approximately equates to only 1 point (23.7% men/22.6% women):
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
EU27
EU17
BE
BU
CZ
DK
GE
EST
IR
GR
SP
FR
IT
CY
LV
LT
LX
HU
MT
NT
AT
PL
PT
RO
SL
FI
SWE
SK
UK
NO
CR
TU
US
Men Women
Unemployment rate by sex (<25 years old - Dec. 2012)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
EU27
EU17
BE
BU
CZ
DK
GE
EST
IR
GR
SP
FR
IT
CY
LV
LT
LX
HU
MT
NT
AT
PL
PT
RO
SL
SK
FI
SWE
UK
NO
CR
TU
US
Men
Women
Unemployment rate by sex (<25 years old - Dec. 2012)

38
According to the OECD data in 2008, the transition period of women from studies to the labour
market was approximately 8½ months shorter than the transition period for men (1.3 years/15.6
months for women, versus 2 years/24 months for men, in the EU15):
Average duration of school-to-work transition by gender in selected European countries (2006)14
Country Men
(years)
Women
(years)
Austria 1,2 0,8
Belgium 1,8 1,1
Czech Republic 2,9 2,1
Denmark 1,9 0,7
Finland 3,0 0,8
France 1,8 1,1
Germany 1,8 1,1
Greece 3,3 2,0
Hungary 3,9 3,0
Iceland 2,5 0,9
Ireland 1,3 1,2
Italy 3,0 3,1
Luxembourg 1,2 0,9
Netherlands 1,4 0,6
Poland 2,7 0,4
Portugal 3,0 2,1
Slovak Republic 2,7 2,5
Spain 2,9 2,0
Sweden 2,1 1,0
Switzerland 0,7 0,6
United Kingdom 1,8 1,4
EU15 (unweighted) 2,0 1,3
14
Even though, and despite having some statistical data in their favour, it is known there are
still large differences in salaries for men and women salaries between countries and sectors.
Difference vary from 2% in Poland to more than 27% in Estonia, according to data from Eurostat
2011 (the difference within the EU being 17%)
At the same time, other statistics shown there is still a lot to do regarding gender equality:
only 10% of European companies’ management positions are filled by women, or 12% of
the positions of the administration councils of the European companies listed on the stock
market. All this and despite the fact that currently women represent approximately 57% of new
university graduates within the EU. On the other hand, only 59% of the working-age women have
employment, compared to 73% of men.
As has been previously mentioned, a greater percentage of women with higher education was
found in some sectors such as health or education, which are normally sectors with lower salaries
than others.
14 Source: OECD 2008 Employment Outlook

39
This segregation regarding professional occupations also has a negative influence on labour
differences regarding equality.
In many European countries, there are several incentives for female employment in general. As a
general rule, there are no specific programmes or policies aimed at fostering employment among
young women, except for financial support regarding social issues for young people with special
difficulty there are at risk of social exclusion (teenage pregnancy, abuse, etc). Having said that,
services such as networks do exist:
The Irish network “Women in Business” is a forum of female entrepreneurs where women may
exchange ideas and increase their contacts. They help young people by providing a space to
discuss business ideas when starting out professional contacts and offering training in issues
such as business management and personal development (see complete sheet in Annex 1.)

40
7. Summary of some local, regional and national
measures and policies
A summary table is included in this section of the report which contains measures and policies
carried out in different European countries and regions, identified by the Youth4JOB Project
partners and ordered by country. Although many of them have a multidimensional approach
and include support services or labour market mechanisms service, as well as legislative and
executive measures. Annex 1 includes more detailed information and links of interest related to
such information.
Measure Country Sphere Type Brief description
AMS – Austrian Public
Employment Services
Austria National Support services Legisla-
tive and executive mea-
sures/
Political objectives
Contact point and first stop for
obtaining data on employment
and careers. It offers counsel-
ing, information qualification
opportunities, financial support,
services, etc.
XX National Project “Sup-
port to Youth employment
in self-government”
Slovakia Regional Labour Market Mecha-
nisms
Executive measures
The project aims at reducing
youth unemployment and
achieving young people adap-
tation to the labour market by
supporting the creation of job
positions in public organisa-
tions at different levels (local
and regional) throughout the
whole country (except for the
region of Bratislava.)
Strategy for Entrepreneur-
ship and Youth Employ-
ment 2013/2016
Spain National Support services Execu-
tive and legislative/ Politi-
cal objectives
The Strategy for Entrepreneur-
ship and Youth Employment
2013/2016 aims to launch mea-
sures oriented to reduce youth
unemployment, both through
labour integration as an em-
ployee or through self-employ-
ment and entrepreneurship,
according to the goals stated in
the European “Youth Guaran-
tee” and developing most of its
recommendations.
Cooperativízate (Cooper-
ativise yourself)
Spain Regional Support services Execu-
tive measures
It consists of a mobile school
going to every vocational train-
ing, occupational training, sec-
ondary education centre and
universities aiming at fostering
cooperatives as a labour op-
portunity among young people
and enhancing the knowledge
of the faculty with this regard.
Galeuropa Spain Regional Labour Market Mecha-
nisms
Executive measures
Scholarship programme so
Galician Young people can
carry out unpaid training intern-
ships in any EU Member State.

41
Inicitativa Xoven
(Youth initiative)
Spain Regional Other support to young
people
Executive measures
Support to youth associations
and informal groups in order
to unleash protagonist spirit,
leadership, creativity and talent
and letting them put in practice
their ideas regarding leisure,
communication, ICTs and other
fields of their interest.
Xuventude Crea
(Youth creates)
Spain Regional Other support to young
people
Executive measures
Prizes aimed at fostering artis-
tic creativity among the youth,
both individually and in group.
CEBs (“City and Country
Enterprise Boards”–
which will be called “Lo-
cal Enterprise Offices”
from 2014)
Ireland National Support services Execu-
tive and politic measures
Organisation of enterprise
training activities through
courses, workshops, seminars,
etc. It is part of the support and
information services offered
by CEBs, which cover a wide
range of needs (networks, con-
tact point, financial support,
mentoring, etc.)
Expert Group on Future
Skill Needs
Ireland National Forecasting and anticipa-
tion systems
Politic measures
This group has been created in
order to advice the Irish Gov-
ernment in the different issues
linked to the current and future
needs of the economy and
labour market regarding skills
and knowledge.
DIALOG Ireland National Labour Market Mecha-
nisms /
Others (immigrants) Exec-
utive and politic measures
DIALOG is an initiative of
EURES-Ireland to provide a
platform aiming at identifying
the labour market problems for
EU/EEA workers in Ireland and
developing solutions.
Women in Business Ireland Local,
Regional
and Na-
tional
Gender equality
Executive measures
Forum of female entrepreneurs
where women may exchange
ideas and increase their
contacts. They help young
people by providing a place
to exchange a business ideas
when starting out professional
contacts and offering training
in issues such as business
management and personal
development
Youth2Work Ireland (&
international)
Interna-
tional
Support services Execu-
tive measures
Youth2Work is a training pro-
gramme developed through
a collaboration between Mic-
rosoft and FIT (Fastrack to IT)
aimed at providing support to
the integration of young people
in the labour market, enhanc-
ing their knowledge and skills,
especially in Information tech-
nologies (e-skills).

42
IFS – Imprese Formative
Simulate
(Simulated Companies
training)
Italy National/
Regional
Support services
Legislative and executive
measures
For more than 10 years, the
Ministry of Education, Uni-
versities and Research has
developed, together with the
educational institutions, some
“simulated training templates”
which have allowed the training
of thousands of students in
hundreds of schools in man-
agement, under the methodol-
ogy of “learning by doing”.
Learning and Employ-
ment in artisanal vocation
Italy National/
Regional
Labour Market Mecha-
nisms
Executive measures
Promoted by the Ministry of
Employment and Social Pol-
icies, with support from the
European Social Fund, it is
an experiment of a model for
training young people in crafts,
linked to productive sectors
of national tradition aimed at
transferring specific knowledge
and skills to new generations.
LIFT - Lavoro Immigrazio-
ne Formazione Tirocini
(Work Immigration Trai-
ning Placements)
Italy National/
Regional
Support services
Executive measures
The Project, implemented by
Italia Lavoro SpA, promotes the
execution of measures and ser-
vices for non-EU immigrants’
employment, especially, for
those people under or seeking
political asylum.
Professional and tech-
nique poles
Italy Regional Labour Market Mecha-
nisms / forecasting and
anticipation systems
Executive measures /
Political objectives
Implementation of a long last-
ing ambitious Project (45 Mill
euro), consisting of the creation
of 98 technical and profes-
sional poles in the Campania
region, in collaboration with
different clusters representing
the industry, economy and
regional employment offer
(shoes, textile, energy, agricul-
ture, maritime, etc.) aimed at
offering vocational training pro-
grammes, practical and theo-
retical, adapted to the demand
and needs of each sector.
Youth Information Cen-
tres: Funds for pilot
projects
Italy Regional Support services
Executive measures
Through an open call with
350,000 euro, the region of
Campania aims to support
the introduction of innovative
methodologies in their youth
information offices towards
offering personalised analysis
and services for their users/
young people.

43
Regional programme
“Campania al lavoro”
(Campania at work)
Italy Regional Support services
/ Labour Market Mecha-
nisms / Forecasting and
anticipation systems /
Gender Equality
Executive measures
The regional programme “Cam-
pania al Lavoro” (Campania at
work) aims at supporting em-
ployment within the region and
fighting the effects of the crisis
in the labour market. Co-fi-
nanced by the European Social
Fund, it is divided into 10 main
measures, which establish
relations between education,
training and the labour market.
Knowledge and skills
Internationalisation
Italy Regional Labour Market Mecha-
nisms / Forecasting and
anticipation systems
Executive measures
Since 2007, the Department of
Youth policies of the region of
Campania, promotes several
activities and interventions for
fostering transnational and
training mobility of young peo-
ple. The programme is divided
into 4 sub-measures and calls
(cultural exchanges, institute
networks, traineeships abroad
and “Master Around”.)
Open Days at House of
Europe in Riga
Latvia National Labour Market Mecha-
nisms
Executive measures
Organisation of information
days on programmes and
services for supporting youth
employment, in collaboration
with EU delegations in the
country.
Youth Guarantee 2014 Latvia National Support services– Labour
Market Mechanisms
Executive and legislative
measures / Political ob-
jects
Implementation of the Youth
Guarantee by the Ministry of
Welfare (LM), in cooperation
with the Ministry of Employ-
ment (IZM), from 2014 and until
2020, with the support of the
National Employment Agency
(NVA), which will offer services
to all young people aged be-
tween 15 and 24.
National programme
“Fighting youth unem-
ployment”
The Nether-
lands
National Support services / Labour
Market Mechanisms /
Forecasting and antici-
pation systems / Gender
equality
Executive measures
This national programme is
divided into different mea-
sures, including job fairs, the
creation of youth information
centres, mentoring systems,
traineeships, negotiations with
companies and social agents
towards creating job positions,
adequacy of the training to the
demand, etc., especially orient-
ed to immigrant young people.
An “Ambassador against Youth
Unemployment” has been
appointed.
Prince’s Trust Enterprise
Programme
The United
Kingdom
National Labour Market Mecha-
nisms Executive measures
The body “Prince’s Trust” is an
NGO (charity) offering several
services and opportunities for
the personal development of
youth (training, advice, mentor-
ing, grants, etc.)

44
Czech Future Skills portal Czech Re-
public
National Forecasting and anticipa-
tion systems
Executive measures
Developed by the Training Na-
tional Fund, this online platform
offers sectorial studies, fore-
casting for 41 sectors, analysis
on the regional potential re-
garding human resources, etc.
Project to support equal
opportunities for men and
women
Czech Re-
public
Regional Gender equality
Executive measures
Coordinated by the Chamber
of Commerce of Prague, the
Project involves 20 companies,
which are given a “Code of
conduct” based on a gender
audit, in order to improve their
structures and policies regard-
ing equality. At the same time,
it also involves 120 entrepre-
neurs or employees, who have
or have had some dependent
relative at risk of exclusion
from the labour market.
Programa nacional
“Combatir el desempleo
juvenil”
Países Bajos Nacional Servicios de apoyo / Me-
canismos del Mercado
de Trabajo / Sistemas de
Previsión y Anticipación /
Igualdad de género
Medidas ejecutivas
Este programa nacional se
divide en diferentes medidas,
incluyendo ferias laborales, la
creación de centros de infor-
mación juveniles, sistemas de
mentoring, prácticas, negocia-
ciones con empresas y agentes
sociales de cara a la creación
de plazas, la adecuación de
la formación con la deman-
da, etc., con unos esfuerzos
especiales para jóvenes inmi-
grantes. Para ello, se ha nom-
brado un “Embajador contra el
Desempleo Juvenil”.
Prince’s Trust Enterprise
Programme
Reino Unido Nacional Mecanismos del Mercado
de Trabajo
Medidas ejecutivas
El organismo “Prince’s Trust”
es una ONG (charity) que of-
rece una serie de servicios y
oportunidades para el desar-
rollo personal de los jóvenes
(formación, asesoramiento,
mentoring, becas, etc.)
Czech Future Skills portal República
Checa
Nacional Sistemas de Previsión y
Anticipación
Medidas ejecutivas
Desarrollada por el Fondo Na-
cional para la Formación, esta
plataforma online ofrece estu-
dios sectoriales, previsiones
para 41 sectores, análisis sobre
el potencial regional en materia
de recursos humanos, etc.

45
Proyecto de apoyo a la
igualdad de oportuni-
dades entre hombres y
mujeres
República
Checa
Regional Igualdad de género
Medidas ejecutivas
Coordinado por la Cámara de
Comercio de Praga, el proyec-
to involucra a 20 empresas, en
las que, sobre la base de una
auditoría de género, se le for-
mula un “código de conducta”
para mejora sus estructuras y
políticas en término de igual-
dad. En paralelo, se trabaja
con 120 personas emprende-
doras o empleadas que tienen/
han tenido a algún familiar a su
cargo o en situación de ries-
go de exclusión del mercado
laboral.

46
8. Conclusions & Recommendations
Statistical data proves the need to keep fighting youth unemployment is urgent in all countries
of the European Union. The adoption of programmes and initiatives such as “Youth on the
Move” and “Youth Guarantee” by the European Union and Member States shows there is a clear
political commitment in this regard.
Member States are the main actors responsible for implementing measures to promote youth
employment, in collaboration and coordination with all relevant stakeholders. The success - or
failure- of the “Youth Guarantee” and “Youth on the Move” will depend on the capacity
of interaction between those agents and of their efficacy when implementing effective
measures meeting the needs of the youth population and the labour market. These
measures need to have quantitative and qualitative clear and measurable goals.
The non-exhaustive list of policies and measures identified by the Youth4JOB Project show
some work has been done from multiple perspectives and in multiple aspects, but often through
occasional short-term implementation projects, especially at local and regional level. In order
to achieve the goals of the “Youth Guarantee”, the key measures should be implemented and
coordinated at national level.
The rating by the young people surveyed should be interpreted with a degree of caution, since
due to their age and their history, not all respondents have had the possibility or the chance of
having a first-hand experience with these services. That said, it is important to highlight that all
existing services have been positively rated and, also, deemed necessary also by their users.
Although it is assumed there is no standard solution for all of them, in fact, both the rating by
young people and of the existing services show the need of approaching the fight against youth
unemployment from a multidisciplinary approach, with different complementary services – every
analysed service has its purpose and, in order to be effective, it should be available at
the appropriate time during the personal and professional development of young people
and by qualified professionals to do so. The suitability of every service and the management
of information from this time perspective is important in focusing efforts on the transition from
studies to the labour market.
The following graphic aims to structure the different kinds of services within a chronological order
to prove the importance of starting tasks from compulsory education, anticipating and advising
young people before they take their first decisions towards the choice of their professional or
career, and, thus, regarding their labour future.
Compulsory
education
Labour
market
Academic/
professional
training
Transition
Forecasting and Anticipation
Professional accompanying, advising
& counseling
Specialised training & skills
acquisition
Traineeships &
Support to mobility
Grants & allowances for
youth employment
Information Observatories
Reorientation,
lifelong
learning, etc.

47
The main conclusions and recommendations for every service under study are summarised as
follows:
Information
Conclusions Recommentation
 Transversal task affecting all employment and
youth services and all people providing such ser-
vices, as well as young people and their immediate
environment.
 There are many Information sources, but they are
not always accessible or such information is not al-
ways presented clearly.
 The youth Information Centres should be the official
way with better coordination and access for young
people, but it has limited knowledge and resources
regarding economic issues and related to the entre-
preneurial spirit.
 Bodies providing employment and business cre-
ation support services are positioned further away
from youth.
 Strengthening the capacity of offering spe-
cific youth information services regarding
employment opportunities derived from the
entrepreneurial spirit.
 Cooperation and coordination with other
bodies responsible for these issues, in line
with the goals stated in the EU’s “Youth
Guarantee”.
 Profiting from ICT and social networks for
informing the youth population.
Accompanying, professional advice and counseling
 Professional advice services are essential when
supporting young people in transition periods and,
especially, throughout their education.
 An inadequate (curricular or structural) change or
poor academic or lower than expected results are
among the main reasons for early –school leaving.
 They may contribute to reduce the “vertical skills
mismatch” or “over-qualification” among young
people with tertiary education certificates.
 Those countries with the highest activity in pro-
fessional counseling are the least affected by ear-
ly-school leaving and youth unemployment.
 Promoting professional advice and sup-
port from compulsory school; facilitating
early decision-making according to expec-
tations and possibilities of Young people
and the labour market.
 Developing personalised programmes and
services, considering the results of the
forecasts and anticipation systems.

48
Specialised training and skills acquisition
 These training courses have a practical or profes-
sional approach or prioritise transversal competenc-
es or skills valued by employers.
 Regarding the transition from school or academic
world to the labour market it must be highlighted
that, unfortunately, the opportunity of participating
in most part of these courses is offered, general-
ly, once the person has completed their academic
or professional training and are already working or
seeking employment.
 It is appropriate that such training meas-
ures may offer flexible solutions, both in
practical aspects (how, when, where the
training is provided), and regarding the for-
mat of the courses (such as dividing sub-
jects in smaller units or modules.)
 Promoting a more active participation
among young people regarding the ac-
quisition of new knowledge through short
courses in parallel to their studies or vo-
cational training, or by introducing such
contents as curricular activities in order to
shorten times within the transitory period.
Observatories
 Observatories are the main information base to ob-
tain anticipation and “skill forecasting” services.
 Their format is not especially oriented to young peo-
ple and, in fact, may be difficult to read for a non-ex-
perienced audience.
 There is a need to increase the distribution,
access and visibility of those tools towards
the integration of young people in the la-
bour market and increasing their impact on
youth and their utility.
 A greater interaction between employment
services and youth information services is
needed, as well as with the other bodies
active in training or orientation tasks in or-
der to guarantee the observed trends are
taken into account when advising, training
and informing a young audience.
International Mobility
 There are many initiatives and programmes, not only
European, which promote mobility among young
people.
 Both the experience and the capacity of internation-
al mobility offer clear competitive advantages for
young people when seeking employment, especially
in a global environment; it shows capacity of learn-
ing in other environments and capacity to adapt to
other cultures; it generates new contact networks,
increases language knowledge and general culture
awareness; allows the incorporation of new knowl-
edge and new working methodologies, etc.
 As a labour opportunity, it is often seen as a short or
medium term solution, since most people ultimately
aim at developing their professional career (and per-
sonal live) in their places of origin.
 Support to mobility is an action and a priority in the
youth employment policies at all levels (EU, national,
local or regional) and offers training and labour in-
tegration advantages, which are very important for
young people
 Grants facilitating mobility towards the
consequent integration in the labour mar-
ket of the country of origin are more useful
for the youth and contribute to avoid the
so-called “brain drain” or escape of talent.

49
Grants and allowances for youth employment
 Existing allowances and grants for recruitment are
a necessary measure to fight youth unemployment
in the short medium term. Certain assurances shall
be required in order to guarantee the sustainability
of the positions once the financial support is gone
and, especially, to contribute to the fight against so-
called “garbage contracts”.
 When designing programmes of grants, al-
lowances or subsidies for fostering youth
employment, assurances shall be request-
ed.
Vocational training and traineeships
 The lack of professional expertise is considered
both by young people and employers as one of the
greatest difficulties in hiring them.
 The mismatch between the training offer and labour
offer contributes significantly to unemployment. The
high number of young people with no studies or
qualification or professional training must be added
to it.
 Well-targeted, services focused on facilitating labour
integration through continuous training programmes
in general and labour traineeships in particular in the
place of origin of the young people or through mobil-
ity grants may be considered as appropriate.
 The abovementioned services (informa-
tion, supports, grants and allowances, mo-
bility, etc.) are valid ways for public admin-
istrations to facilitate labour traineeships
and programmes.
Forecasting and anticipation systems
 Forecast and anticipation systems may turn into the
main tool for planning employment policies at all lev-
els and support the tasks of all people and active
organisations regarding information, counseling,
guidance and labour training.
 They also contribute to the political debate and stra-
tegic decision-making by policy makers, in order to
guarantee that all services linked to employment, in
general, and to training in particular, consider future
skills forecasts.
 It is necessary that the information gener-
ated by the forecast systems reaches all
agents and interlocutors capable of help-
ing young people when taking their first
decisions (family, educators, youth inform-
ants, etc.)
 The training and academic system (pro-
fessional training and higher education)
should consider the skills forecast of the
labour market in order to adapt the offer
to the supply.
Gender equality
 There are still large gaps within countries and sec-
tors regarding men and women salaries.
 There are several incentives for female employment
in general, but, as a general rule, there are no spe-
cific programmes or policies oriented to fostering
employment for young women in particular.
 Design ad hoc measures for promoting
equal conditions when hiring young wom-
en.

50
9. Bibliography
 (2012/C394/03)-2012JointReportoftheCouncilandtheCommissionontheimplementation
of the renewed framework for European cooperation in the youth field (2010-18)
 2011 UETPNET- General Research Report: The relations between Universities and
Enterprises and the Requirements for a Matching Skills Tool (Andrei Dumitrescu, CTANM)
 Actions to foster youth employment in the Member States. Declaration of the EU Ministers
of Labour and the Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion agreed at the
Conference on Youth Employment (Berlin, 3rd July 2013)
 Career Guidance - A HANDBOOK FOR POLICY MAKERS (OECD/E.C. - 2004)
 Career Guidance in the Life Course - Structures and Services in Germany (Bernhard
Jenschke, Karen Schober, Judith Frübing – National Guidance Forum in Education, Career
and Employment – Brochure commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Education and
Research)
 COUNCIL RESOLUTION of 27 November 2009 on a renewed framework for European
cooperation in the youth field (2010-2018)
 EEO Quarterly Reports. Catalogue of measures. 4th Quarter of Year (November 2012 – mid-
January 2013)
 Effectiveness of policy measures to increase the employment participation of young people
(EUROFUND, Jo Hawley, Anne-Mari Hall – Nevala - and Tina Weber, GHK Consulting)
 Employment and Social Developments in Europe 2012 (E.C., D.G. for Employment, Social
Affairs & Inclusion, Directorate A, Manuscript completed in November 2012)
 EU measures to tackle youth unemployment (E.C. note – D.G. for Employment, Social
Affairs & Inclusion, June 2013)
 European Network on Youth Employment: Benchmarking Report (February 2011)
 Framework of actions on Youth Employmet note (European Social partners: ETUC,
BUSINESSEUROPE, UEAPME & CEEP)
 Guía para la creación de servicios de información juvenil en el exterior (Instituto de la
Juventud – INJUVE -, Ministerio de Sanidad, Política Social e Igualdad)
 NEETs - Young people not in employment, education or training: Characteristics, costs
and policy responses in Europe (European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and
Working Conditions, 2012)
 New skills and jobs in Europe: Pathways towards full employment (E.C., D.G. for Research
and Innovation, Directorate B — European Research Area, Unit B.5 — Social Sciences and
Humanities)
 Professional orientation in schools in a European comparison (Peter Härtel, European
Guidance Forum)
 SWD(2012) 257 final - EU Youth Report - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT -
Status of the situation of young people in the European Union
 YOUNEX FP7 project: WP5 Report EU-Level Analysis: European Policy Initiatives and

51
Instruments in the Field of Youth Unemployment (August 2012)
 Youth in Europe – A statistical portrait (Eurostat Statistical books, 2009 Edition)
 Youth transitions from school to work (Presentation at The Employment Committee -Ad
Hoc Working Group by Prof. Gerhard Bosch, Thematic Expert of EEO, Duisburg Essen
University, Institut Arbeit und Qualifikation, January 2011)
 Youth Transitions, the Labour Market and Entry into Employment: Some Reflections and
Questions (SKOPE Research Paper No. 108 May 2012, Ewart Keep, SKOPE, Cardiff
University)
 Youth Unemployment in Europe - Theoretical Considerations and Empirical Findings (Hans
Dietrich, International Policy Analysis of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung’s department of
International Dialogue, July 2012)

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