Active Labour Market Policy for Youth with a strategic focus on education and inclusion

Jens SibbersenHead of DepartmentJobcenter Copenhagen, Municipality of CopenhagenNovember 2012

Outline of my presentation

•Brief introduction to Copenhagen and the Jobcentre at its tasks and challenges•Organising principles as a means to an effective Employment Policy•Combatting poverty within an inclusive and mainstream policy and organisation – some examples

An International City

Copenhagen is an international city with some 540,000 citizens who represent a variety of different national backgrounds.

Approximately 119,864 are immigrants or descendants of descendants. It corresponds to 22.2 % of the Copenhagen population. 14.7 % come from non-Western countries.

Political Organization of Copenhagen

•The City Council is the governing political body of Copenhagen•The City Council consists of 7 committees, each with its own administration:

•The Finance Committee •The Culture and Leisure Committee•The Children and Youth Committee•The Health and Care Committee•The Social Services Committee•The Technical and Environmental Committee•The Employment and Integration Committee

Mayor Anna Mee Allerslev (B)

Tasks of the Employment and Integration Administration•Employment (including jobcentres and training centres)• Education•Cash benefits, unemployment insurance and sickness benefits•Interaction with entreprises, monitoring and analyses of the structures of the labour market•Assessment of labour skills in connection with early retirement•Inclusion tasks across the administrations•Language centres•Danish language training for adults

Jobcenter Copenhagen – an example concerning youth without educationChallenge

Prognosis (2020)-15.800 skilled jobs will be needed in Cph with the current trend-Similarly 36.600 unskilled workers will not be needed.

Situation now-82 % of 24 year olds, that live in Copenhagen have a youth education (high school or vocational education)-69,3 % of 30-34 year olds have a vocational education-Youth Unemployment 6,7 % in first quarter of 2012

Targeting Youth Employment in Copenhagen

Target – 95 pct. of a youth cohort shall have en education within 2020 – 60 pct. of a youth cohort shall have a further education by 2020– Reducing unemployment for youth with further 10 pct.

Strategy•A strong focus on the ordinary educational system at the Jobcentres•Spare time occupation as supplement to Student Financial Aid•A cross sector approach establishing strategic partnerships with

•Educational Institutions •Youth Education Guidance facilities•Enterprises•Labour Market Organisations•Job- and Education Fairs

Organising principles

•Performance Management through organisation and capacity building – a baseline for innovation• External actor as strategic partners in Active Labour Market Policy•Innovation as a key to succes•Strong focus on production as a key to success•Main streaming policy targeting employment through education for youth without education•Evolving door policy•Citizen at the helm •Profiling• Holistic approach for disadvanged youth•Specialised measures

Mission and Vision of the EIA

Mission •With the help of the EIA the citizens of Copenhagen are employed and form part of the city’s diversity

Vision•Access to job and education•Professionel service on time•A chance for everyone to join in

Profiling systemAn initial and ongoing evaluation of the employment potential of the individual in order to initiate ALMM

How?•Employment Potential – degree of match (through dialogue):

1-3where 1 is immediate match and 3 is no matchM1 is ready for the labour market and/or education, 2 ready for activation and 3 no immediate match (temporarily unavailable)

•Resources of the individual (through dialogue)5 points of attention: 1) Own employment perspective, 2) Formal and practical qualifications, 3) Personal competences, 4) Financial situation and networks and 5) Health

•Demands of the Labour MarketWhen establishing the match the resources of the individual have to be take into consideration as well as the demands of the labour market.

Specialised Measures (examples)Focus on•Negative Social Development in particular areas in Copenhagen with a high concentration of unemployed through•Intensified efforts towards vulnerable groups•Education to all young people

Mentor support during an educationFor young criminals there is a program of extended mentor support

Example of measures•18 + (Targeting employement and education for vulnerable young)•17 + (making smooth the transition to adulthood)•Sparetime job (preparing young for the Labour Market and Education)•Intensified effort towards primarily criminals (Safe City Strategy):

•The good release•Hot spot•SSP+ (School Social Services and Police)•Exit (New Start – replacement of young criminals)•TAMU (Production School for disadvanged young)

•Education through Job

Labour Market tools at the Job Centres•Jobnet.dk

•Country wide facility where available jobs – unsubsidized as well as subsidized - can be registered with or without the assistance of the Job Centres•CV of the unemployed has to be registered within the first month of unemployment

•Jobindsats.dk - an IT-based bench marking tool •Measures results and effects of the active labour policy •Satisfy legal requirements and rights of the unemployed

• Case work toola web-based system that is used in the planning, execution and follow-up on the general and individual employment efforts consisting of 2 parts: Profiling system and Benefit history.

Thank you for your attention