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Description
In the Kežmarok district, long-term registered unemployment is at the level of 15%. It is estimated that about 70% -80% of these registered available job seekers are people from marginalized Roma communities (approximately 5,000 people). Most of this workforce is low-skilled people (with completed primary or special primary school) who live in segregated communities in the municipalities of Kežmarok district.
The main aim of the project is to support the employment and employability of people from marginalized Roma communities in the Spiš region through education and job mentoring needed for adaptation in the workplace. Education should focus on social and communication skills that will help people from marginalized Roma communities to develop healthy assertiveness, perseverance and responsibility in their future workplace and in everyday life. An innovative element of the project is that it wants to focus only on those who show real interest in this education.
The project is based on a specific strategy: contacting local governments in the Kežmarok district with the intention of identifying groups of unemployed people who are interested in work, negotiating with all interested parties among companies in the Kežmarok, Poprad and Spišská Nová Ves region - finding out , how many new people they would need and in what time horizon, type and description of job positions, definition of the most common problems/barriers that employers perceive with employees (job shadowing, meeting with foremen), identification of areas where potential employees still need to be strengthened, creation of a plan education for two target groups - potential employees from marginalized Roma communities and foremen working at workplaces.
The project would thus benefit people from local communities, vulnerable groups (especially Roma, people at risk of poverty and the homeless) and employers/masters of manual skills.
Summary of project results
The following activities were carried out within the project: Organization of introductory meetings with potential project participants, Implementation of introductory group meetings with potential project participants, Individual entrance interview with those interested in participating in the project, Group training of social and communication skills and functional literacy, Individual job counseling before getting a job , Work mentoring for participants during workplace adaptation, Meetings with employers in the region, Workshop aimed at spreading examples of good practice.
The activities were important for the development of social and communication skills, which helped people from marginalized Roma communities to develop healthy assertiveness, persistence and responsibility for establishing contacts with the labor market and maintaining employment.
A total of 210 participants were included in the project (the planned number was 75). Of these, 22 found employment. The increase in the originally planned number was caused by the criterion of voluntariness for participation in the project, measures in connection with the pandemic and the subsequent extension of the project implementation period.
The main benefit of the project for the target group was their activation and increased internal motivation to get a job. For the above-mentioned 22 employed project participants, their economic situation has significantly improved. Other participants improved their soft skills, which they use in every area of life.
From the point of view of the wider context, the project participants learned to invest in their self-development even without financial motivation or the external pressure of sanctions, and at the same time the project contributed to the fact that a relatively large group of people (210) can now move independently on the labor market, thus becoming valid part of a wider region.