EUROPEAN COMMISSION DG Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility Europe 2020: Employment Policies Unit C/2 Sectoral Employment challenges, Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Establishing a partnership to set up a Youth Guarantee Scheme in Veneto VP/2012/012/0175 Engagement in the Youth Guarantee Dissemination Conference, Brussels, 8 May 2015 1 With financial support from the European Union. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Rationale for intervention Veneto region, some evidences Until 2008: one of the European regions with the lowest unemployment rate After 2008 (crisis time): unemployment rate and the percentage of NEETs become more and more relevant NEETs (16% of the whole young population in 2012) include many non-eu young immigrants, whose chances of success are much worse than those of their Italian peers. Regional employment policies show a certain inadequacy to attract and engage young people who are often "invisible" to the traditional public services. Main reasons for these difficulties: - new importance of social informal and non-formal communication processes; - deep change of youth languages and meanings; - negative perception towards the institutions working with young people (schools, vocational training and employment services), considered as poorly integrated and far from everyday life. 2
Aims and objectives In order to face this situation the Partnership decided: - to find new channels of communication able to hook young people - to try out new intervention approaches based on a greater proximity and involvement of young people - to respond to new problems with new initiatives, adopting approaches that go beyond traditional schemes - to learn from successful practices developed in other countries, in and outside Europe, making them a flywheel for social innovation Operative objectives has been therefore: Testing innovative communication strategies and interventions providing information, guidance and skills in favour of NEETs in Veneto Developing a regional network, centred on Veneto NEET policy (territorial institutions, stakeholder, social partners, voluntary sector, social cooperation, associations and media) Improving the level of cooperation among different social actors, in order to face youngsters needs in an integrated way 3
Public/private partnership Segmented target NEET = young people 15 24 years old who DO NOT work (unemployed or not active), DO NOT attend formal VET courses In Veneto region they are 74.000 (regional statistic system) They represent the 16% of the young population, in 2005 they were the 9,5% In Province of Treviso, our testing field, they are about 12.000 4 Two different segments have been considered: Range 15-17: young people identified and monitored by the Regional Register of Students (ARS) Range 18-24: young people NOT registered by the Employment Services = INVISIBLE
Core project phases Reinforcement of the network Co-projecting a youth guarantee scheme for Veneto region (learning from a benchmarking analysis realised at transnational level) Building up of a permanent NEETs Table for coordination of future interventions to contrast the phenomenon Training for practitioners and trainers Getting in touch with the NEETs Communication plan (logo, claim, web site, videos, posters, cards, ) Different awareness tools (Facebook, Twitter, contact points, testimonials on videos, special events Cocktail of opportunities") Self-diagnosis tool 5 Giving answers towards the Labour market TEST CASE in the Province of Treviso. Includes measures aimed at facilitating youth employment: visits to companies, incompany guidance and training placements, work experiences, entrepreneurship lab
Getting in touch with the NEETs - Communication plan Objectives Intercepting NEETs of the Veneto Region (special focus on the target aged 18-24 residing in the Province of Treviso) Using communication contents to appeal to young generations Creating a better relationship between NEETs and institutions Building a community and stimulate the WOM (Word Of Mouth communication) among young people Reaching a sufficient number of web-applications (that sums up to at least three times the number of available places) Strategy Involvement of peers: Inviting young people who are easier to reach to bring in friends who are not working or studying Do you have a friend under 25 who does not study, work, nor follow any training?" Social media: launch of the page/community on Facebook in combination with the creation of a Twitter account and a YouTube channel Events to let young NEETs meet people who operate in labour services Storytelling: video interviews with young people reporting their work experiences 6
Communication activity and tools Definition of logo, claim e guidelines Definition and implementation of the website (domain name registration: iniziativagiovaniveneto.it) Info graphic animated video to be uploaded on YouTube (call-to-action) Video interviews with young people who present their own work experiences and highlight their advantages and with testimonials Production of cards, posters and flyers Editorial plan and content calendar for Facebook including promotional posts, video and photo, events (countdown and best of report) Launch of hashtags: #iniziativagiovaniveneto, #illavorochevorrei Promotion of the work experiences, self entrepreneurship laboratory, and company tours 7 Non-conventional marketing: tree of the dream job to be installed in the event place where young people can post their aspirations and desires for their future
Communication campaign 845 likes on 563 registrations on www.iniziativagiovaniveneto.it/ 30 followers on tree of the dream job 10 videos on 167 participants to 2 Events Opportunity Cocktail March 2014 8 Work Lab May 2014
SWOT analysis 9 Strengths New methods, means and tools to intercept youngsters: innovative communication campaign Different and various channels have been used, as differentiated tools are needed to establish an effective communication Association of social networks tools with word-of-mouth, cards, telephone and emails Language and graphic aspects of the website make the messages more direct and powerful (videos, info-graphic elements) Interactive arrangements allow youngsters to have a leading role Peer communication Examples: College students employed as co-authors of the communication plan; Schools visits have been managed and conducted by students themselves Weaknesses Potential issue: this phase is essential and needs adequate resources in terms of time, creativity and financial means This step needs all actors pay attention and take into consideration these products as much as the other phases of the project The transfer of this model seems to be quite costly, since a high level of personalization and individualization of actions is required Institutional employment services often aren t being attended by NEETs and in general by disadvantaged people
Lesson learned 10 It is important both to differentiate and integrate a variety of Communication channels Traditional communication channels (database, word of mouth, information point, mailing list, etc.) are more effective to first contact, while social networks are more useful to keep in touch with users Direct contact with practitioners is both an added value for youngsters and an encouragement to stay active Peer communication is a valid means to intercept NEETs. This form of horizontal, informal and direct communication has proved to be particularly effective when used addressing NEETs. Adequate intermediaries and interfaces such as social workers, athletic associations and priests, can be usefully used to reach NEETs
Measures for youth employment Under-18 12 Internships 2 weeks length 10 School visits for 12 part. Over-18 10 Company visits for 47 part. 25 Work Experiences 4 months length 1 Entrepreneurship Lab for 6 part. Achieved results Return to VET, also in the same institute of the school visit (9 cases) Continuation of internship, of longer length, in 2 cases with benefit by the company (9 cases) Hiring (12 cases, with various forms of contract, also apprenticeship, 2 as result of the company visit) Continuation of work experience (3 cases) Start-up of one of the two business ideas elaborated during the Entrepreneurship Lab 11
General remarks and recommendations 12 Preventive approach: importance of taking a preventive approach with early school leavers and NEETs Participative method: active involvement of partners, practitioners, participants, stakeholders (learning approach) Networking: multi-level e inter-institutional model, closer and stricter cooperation among project partners Personalisation of intervention: laboratory methodology of teaching. Diversification of measures according to the different categories of Neets and the specific needs, knowledge and tools Active involvement of stakeholder: companies / schools / local actors Value of target proximity delivering actions at local level. Local levels appear strategic, as they promote and valorise the role of local actors. Moreover, social capital expressed at local level can be exploited and spent in an appropriate manner to improve the implementation of social policies, including Neet
Thank you for your attention! Regione del Veneto Dipartimento Istruzione Formazione e Lavoro Venezia IT Contacts Luisa Moar, luisa.moar@regione.veneto.it Tel. +39 041 2795807 13 www.iniziativagiovaniveneto.it www.garanziagiovaniveneto.it www.regione.veneto.it