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Description
FORMAR PARA INTEGRAR (TRAIN TO INTEGRATE) is a project that will promote certified training in the areas of catering, informatics, or Portuguese as a host language to 100 migrant people looking for a start in their professional career or a requalification and recognition of skills acquired throughout life. The project will also create a network of local employers and provide a training component of active job search techniques, interview simulation and behavioural attitude measures that are expected to contribute to the integration into the labour market of at least 25% of trainees.
Summary of project results
AISP is an immigrant association that works with this population, but not only. Based on data published by the Correio do Minho newspaper in its 6th May 2022 edition, companies in Minho (northern Portugal) are struggling with a shortage of 40,000 workers. There is a shortage of staff, as stated in the same newspaper, particularly in the area of tourism. Complementing the data published in 2021 on the Statistics Portal of the Foreigners and Border Service - SEFSTAT, the Braga district registered 23619 immigrants, 23615 of whom already have a residence permit. The companies in question seek to be part of a legal framework and cannot have workers without contracts. The potential number of immigrants living in Braga must be analysed. According to data published on 28 July 2021 by the INE (National Statistics Institute), the Northern region recorded a loss of 2.7% of its resident population, yet Braga was the municipality in this region that recorded the biggest increase in population over the last 10 years. There are (at the time of the application) 193,333 people living in the municipality. It can be concluded that the labour market in Braga is attractive and that there is not enough Portuguese-speaking labour available and qualified for the companies looking to recruit.
In order to prevent and reduce the high degree of precariousness and illegal labour, it is important to train/qualify the migrant population, particularly in IT and catering/bar areas; and to promote a rapprochement between supply and demand for employment, through partnerships with local companies, parish councils with professional integration offices, such as the São Vicente parish council, and others similar to absorb the labour referred.
The FORMAR PARA INTEGRAR project aimed to provide certified training in catering, IT and Portuguese as a host language to 100 people (migrants and nationals) in partnership with the Braga Business Association, which changed at the start of the project to a (non-formal) partnership with the Institute for Employment and Vocational Training. The documentation requirements for access to catering and IT training meant that it wasn''t possible to open classes in these two areas, so the project was based on training in the Portuguese language for foreigners, as it is requested for some jobs. Four training classes were held, reaching 78 people, 64 of whom obtained certification and 17 were integrated into the labour market. The migrant people integration was the result of the training but also the individualised support sessions for professional integration carried out as part of the project.
As part of the capacity building, a Diagnosis of Needs and Action Plan was carried out which identified Strategic Planning as an area to be developed and which was reported as a moment of great importance for the Association. The capacity-building activities in the area of strategic planning were achieved with the support of another service provider who made it possible to define value creation models, from which they learnt to understand how to segment all those involved in our activity, clients/users, suppliers, partners and benefactors and, consequently, adopt strategies according to each one.
Publicising the project resulted in 112 people interested in taking part in the activities, shared via social networks, the AISP website and word of mouth. The training activity implemented was training in the Portuguese Language for foreigners, which enabled the trainees to obtain valuable certification for integration into the labour market.
The project publicity arrived to migrants who were fluent in Portuguese, particularly those from Brazil and the PALOP countries, therefore didn''t need this training, but took part in sessions to create CVs, simulate job interviews, register on job websites and access employers interested in their services. The same happened with those who initially expressed an interest in computer training and catering and bar training. There was also a territorial extension of what was initially planned, with people from other municipalities coming to look for jobs through AISP.
All this dynamism and momentum that the organisation managed to generate with this project allowed the association to continue to provide a service space with effective support for jobseekers. The work is based on training in job-seeking skills and on bridging the gap between those potentially interested and employers in the Braga municipality and neighbouring areas. The synergy created with the IEFP partner was particularly important, as it called for continued collaboration between the two organisations beyond the project''s duration.