Helping marginalized young people find jobs in France

The European Center for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) has looked into a recent study on the support and monitoring of the career paths of young NEETs, young people who are neither students, employees nor trainees and present difficulties in accessing the labor market.

The term NEET literally means “Not in Education, Employment or Training” and refers to people who are remote from employment and who have significant risks of marginalization. The organization addresses the difficulties of setting up programs to support the employment of these groups and proposes ways to improve the policies developed for them.

A decentralized agency of the European Union, Cedefop has been contributing to the development of European vocational education and training (VET) policy  since 1975 by supporting the European Commission, the Member States and their social partners.

Better support for “off-the-shelf” assets

Cedefop has published an information guide on the inclusion of young people and adults who have disappeared off the circuit. This document includes proposals for a rehabilitation and capacity building course for groups in difficulty.

The route includes several stages with the first step being to contact and support people who are offline to encourage and help them improve their skills. The second step is to strengthen the evaluation of the groups to promote approaches that have yielded results.

The European organization mentions in particular the need to set up sustainable and flexible support policies, promoting strong cooperation and exchange of information between stakeholders as well as enhanced support for those professionals able to offer individual responses and the need for a strengthened assessment of skills and needs.

The trails proposed by Cedefop

Cedefop recommends that aid be better organized at local level since coordination is more efficient and targets are better defined. Vulnerable people need regular and personalized monitoring, while setting up a global and proactive service to contact and support vulnerable people is also advisable.

By harnessing the strength of the group via peers and communities, it is possible to reach candidates more easily. The principle of support and coaching has been shown to help improve the motivation and skills of disadvantaged people.

In conclusion, Cedefop confirms the need to put in place certain actions to help remote NEETs gain employment. To achieve this, supportive and flexible supportive policies are needed, as well as increased cooperation and information exchange between different stakeholders.

Cedefop has called for the implementation of state policies aimed at integrating vulnerable groups and meeting the employment needs of young people and marginalized adults by concentrating on rehabilitation and rehabilitation as well as preventative measures.

Cedefop recommends developing personalized support delivered by teams of professionals capable of providing individual services that would better deal with these audiences. The body further states that the assessment of skills and needs for their integration must also be reinforced in this direction.