Role of employment services in the promotion of inclusive employment emphasised in Riga

On 11-12 June, the third Board Meeting of the European Network of Public Employment Services took place in Riga. Representatives from the European Commission and the heads of the employment services of 28 EU Member States discussed the situation on the European Union employment market, the tasks of the European Network of Public Employment Services, its priorities and achievements in the reduction of unemployment.

Improving efficiency of the services provided by the employment services is among the goals of the network, therefore the meeting focused on the exchange of experience. The participants also discussed examples of best practice for the reduction of long-term unemployment and the encouragement of youth employment, and the importance of the development and accessibility of electronic services today.

Detlef Eckert, the Director of the European Commission Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, describing the unemployment situation in European countries, stated that even with the increase in the number of available jobs, the unemployment rate still does not go down, therefore the balancing of the labour force and the labour market requirements is a topical issue for the EU Member States.

Inese Kalvāne, the Director of the Latvian State Employment Agency, the Vice-Chair of the European Network of Public Employment Services Network Board, emphasised the role of the employment services for the promotion of inclusive employment. Mutual cooperation and experience sharing among employment services has an important role for the reduction of long-term unemployment and the provision of support to the following target groups: unemployed youth, persons with disabilities and unemployed persons at the pre-retirement age. She also drew attention to the importance of personnel development at the employment services for the reduction of unemployment problems.

The heads of employment services actively discussed the role of employment services to re-integrate persons who have been without a job for a long term into the labour market. Several national examples of best practice prove that such people resume working if the employment services personnel apply an individual approach to each particular case by helping to eliminate the causes behind the unemployment.

At the same time, the heads of employment services emphasised the importance of preventive measures and the role of services for preventing long-term unemployment. It is important to assess the work skills of the unemployed and their compliance with the modern labour market requirements, to understand what additional competences are required and to find a suitable job providing the required training beforehand.

Within the process of the matching of the labour market requirements and the job seekers' skills, the employment services play a decisive role because each particular situation needs to be evaluated and the most suitable solution needs to be found. Most Member States evaluate the possibilities for efficient development of such matching within the e-environment, at the same time working on the tailor-made e-services. The use of the e-environment improves the accessibility of services and the possibility of using them as soon as there is a case of unemployment without waiting for a consultation at an employment service.

The representatives from the Netherlands presented their experience regarding the development of e-services. For example, successful communication with the youth takes place by electronic means, including Skype, which is very important in the situations when young people do not want to go to the employment services.

The European Network of Public Employment Services was established in 2014 based on the decision by the European Parliament and the EU Council on closer cooperation among the European public employment services. The representatives of all the 28 EU Member States and the European Commission work within the European Network of Public Employment Services.

Every 6 months, each country holding the presidency of the Council of the European Union organises the Board Meeting of the European Network of Public Employment Services to discuss the accomplishments during the last six months and to adopt resolutions regarding further activities. This Board Meeting was organised by Latvia Latvian State Employment Agency with co-financing provided by the European Commission (EaSi-PROGRESS Programme 2015).