Two Romanian youth employment projects, among European Commission's Youth Guarantee pilot projects

Two Romanian projects are among the 18 Youth Guarantee pilot projects launched between August and December 2013 across the EU. Each of the pilot projects run for around 12 months and represent concrete ways of putting the Youth Guarantee program into practice by for example reinforcing links between employers and schools and by upgrading support to young people from public employment services. representatives of the European Commission met on September 9 with projects’ coordinators to review the progress made so far. The projects are currently being implemented in Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Spain and the UK. The Romanian projects are implemented in Alba and Neamt counties. The project in Alba county developed a job club model. Job clubs operate within schools with the aim of preparing young people for the labor market. Up to date, 80 students aged 15-19 have been involved in this project. They’ve received guidance and counseling from specially trained vocational counselors and also completed a special training course on entrepreneurship. Some of the participants were involved in creating an online platform for career assistance for young people, while 60 participants visited key labour market actors as a way of becoming more familiar with the job search process. Four job clubs have been created and are active. The second project, implemented in Neamt county, targets young people who are about to leave the system of state care. A total of 103 young people were part of the project: their needs were identified and an individualized labor market plan was made for each. Partners in the project helped participants with the problem they face in accessing employment, namely the lack of school certificates and expired ID cards. All employers in Neamt County received a letter informing them about the project and asking them to come forward to host and mentor young people who took part in the project. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com