Qualify Policy Recommendations _final

It is commonly accepted that Europe needs a qualified workforce to face the economic and competitive challenges of the ever-changing occupational demands, emerging skills and competences required by the labour market, now and in the future. Low skilled adults are prone to unemployment as they possess different skills to those required by the labour market or lack the confidence to move forward in their career. Despite this, with proper professional support , low skilled adults are a source that can be empowered and successfully integrated in the labour market. Throughout QUALIFY the following challenges have been identified: It is a matter of definition: Low Skilled adult – the definition of low skilled takes into account the educational attainment rather than the missing skill-set for a particular employment position, as required by the market. At the present, the “guidance service” is focused on getting the unemployed a job as quickly as possible in order to reduce unemployment levels and income-security payment. It often performs gatekeeping and policing functions in relation to public resources. It is not just to help the individual make decisions, but also to make institutional decisions about the individual. Generally, Career Guidance / Career Counseling is not yet a service that would cover all target groups of population and offer a career development counseling service to all through their lives. 3. Challenges identified in QUALIFY Challenges identified by Career / Guidance practitioners LACK OF RESOURCES: This applies to both, human and financial resources available in the system. Guidance practitioners often feel overwhelmed with the high number of clients and limited time allocation to each one. For this reason, the service is often limited to information purposes (employment opportunities, re-training opportunities, claim of benefits and allowances, etc.) and cannot go too much in depth. “We would need to have more time for a complete assessment of our client but honestly, with the time at our disposal it’s very difficult” (Michaela, SK). 12 qualifyproject.eu