Five-year development guidelines for employment planned

Ljubljana, 4 November

The Employment Service of Slovenia has adopted development guidelines for the next five years. For more information in connection with this we spoke with Managing Director Jože Glazer.

What is the focus of the Employment Service’s development guidelines for the next five years?

The Service is trying to become a key part of the formation and implementation of employment policy and the development of human resources in Slovenia, which also means becoming comparable with the best institutions in Europe. The key strategies of the guidelines which will receive additional attention from the Employment Service include the promotion of employment and work as a factor of personal and societal development, in which the Service will endeavour to develop truly efficient services and activities which will make it more effective for all clients of the Employment Service. Continuing to strengthen partnership in the field of the development of human resources both at local and state level is also important, as this is the only way we will be able to increase employment among the most difficult to employ groups.

How do you intend to reduce unemployment?

We intend to reduce unemployment by including unemployed people in a wide range of measures within the employment policy, since with the different types of knowledge and skills which participants can acquire in these programmes they can increase their competitiveness and improve their positions on the jobs market. We will also be paying a great deal of attention to taking an individual approach, which is especially important for people who are difficult to employ. In the coming year the Employment Service will assist an expected 55,000 unemployed people, of whom 52,000 should find regular employment with the remainder being employed in public works. In addition, our activities should improve the structure of unemployment – the share of women should be 51.9 percent, long-term unemployed 42.4 percent and unemployed people without education 38 percent, and we will also pay a great deal of attention to reducing regional variations. In addition, the Employment Service intends to strengthen its partnership with employers in order to have a joint impact on the development of human resources. The Service will also place a major emphasis on the introduction of new services, such as a call centre for employers, a ‘one stop shop’ where clients can get all they need in one place, and the introduction of an e-portal and other self-service options for clients.

Can you tell us how we compare with Europe in this field?

In Slovenia we take into consideration the guidelines of the Lisbon Strategy in forming our national employment programme, and pay special attention to the same target groups of unemployed people as in Europe: the young, the long-term unemployed, unemployed people without education and women. We strengthen partnership, which is also very important in Europe in reducing unemployment. The measures of the employment policy in Slovenia are comparable with those implemented in Europe and are intended mainly at people who are difficult to employ. The Employment Service of Slovenia is very well-known in the EU due to its organizational structure, work methods, efficiency and success rate, and is also comparable with highly successful institutions; it is the most effective of the similar institutions among the new EU member states.

Five-year development guidelines for employment planned

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