Youth participation in the EU Labour Market
On the 28th of March of 2022 the European Commission organised a conference on the theme of employment for young people in the European Union. As the unemployment youth rate has increased due to the Covid-19 crisis, EfVET is willing to learn more about which are the solutions proposed by the experts so as to such increase. Should VET learning be the solution for those employees who cannot get a paid job?
The event was opened with the welcoming by Krzysztof Pater, President of the National Scout and Guide Court of the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association, who also played the role of moderator in the whole session. The main guiding thread of his introduction was the fact that due to the Covid-19 crisis many youngsters have not had the possibility to find a job after the finalisation of their studies.
Laurenţiu Plosceanu, President of the Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship, also gave an opening speech. Consequently, Sabine Verheyen, MEP in the Chair of the Committee on Culture and Education, stated that it has been really difficult to maintain the vocational training during the lock-down. Additionally, she affirmed that many employers are not relocated in the restructuring of the labour market, so there is the need to do something for the unemployed people. She proposed that the Erasmus+ program plays a key role in the development of the skills of the workers and that this program could be a potential solution so as to reduce the unemployment rate in the EU.
Biliana Sirakova, Youth Coordinator at the European Commission, pointed out the need to create more modern and sustainable works but making emphasis on the quality of them. Pablo Cornide, Policy Officer at the European Commission, noted that poverty and social exclusion increased during the Covid-19 crisis. Massimiliano Mascherini, Head of Unit Social Policies at Eurofound, noted that there is a need to take care of youngsters and their mental health when it comes to online-schooling or teleworking.
During session II, Mikael Leyi, Secretary General at SOLIDAR, stated that there is a civil dialogue and the rights for migrants and refugees also need to be considered. Kamil Goungor, Chair of the European Disability Forum’s Youth Committee, and Policy and Movement Support Officer at the European Network on Independent Living, pointed out that the unemployment rate of disable people is really high compared to the non-disable one.
Laura Marchetti, Policy Manager, Mental Health Europe and Panagiotis Chatzimichail, Board Member of the European Youth Forum, insisted on the necessity of taking care of mental health. Last but no least, Michael McLoughlin, EESC member (Gr. III), Nicoletta Merlo, EESC member (Gr. II) and Anne Kjær Bathel, European Young Leaders’ programme, Friends of Europe, confirmed the necessity of creating new jobs with quality and the need of European legislation in this field.
