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More companies take responsibility in fight against youth unemployment

What does a successful anti youth unemployment project look like? The Nordic labour ministers have asked Danish consultancy agency Damvad to map Nordic youth projects that are based on cooperation between authorities and companies.
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What should authorities think about?

These are some of the conditions which the Damvad report says will determine whether a project is successful or not:

  1. There must be broad understanding from the authorities on what the goal for the project is and how to achieve it.
  2. Someone needs to ‘own’ the project and that person must have access to the necessary resources.
  3. The youths must remain at the centre of it all – not the system. The young people aren’t there to coordinate the efforts, that job belongs to the professionals.

 

What should the businesses think about?

Before a company does something to grant young people a new chance in working life, they also need to prepare themselves: 

  1. The project must have the support of top management and among existing employees.
  2. There should be a structured plan for how to introduce the youths so that they get an open and friendly reception, while also facing demands and expectations.
  3. The sooner a young person is treated like the rest of the workers, the sooner the integration into working life will succeed.
How do you optimise the cooperation between the authorities and the businesses?

The projects will not work without close cooperation between the authorities, i.e. the job centres, and the businesses.

  1. Make clear what is expected from the youths and which skills they are expected to have. Be honest about all the issues the youth might have, so that the company can prepare as best it can.
  2. There must be permanent contact people on both sides.
  3. The mentors must be talented and inclusive, allowing the young person to build trust in that person. 
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