Work from Scratch | Youth Exchange

Dates: 04-12 April 2019

Venue: Larnaka, Cyprus

Organizer NGO: One Terrene International

Project Description

Unemployment is still a huge concern in the EU with particular concern for youth.  We have seen that education is at the forefront of our priorities and almost all young people have access to education, but this does not seem to equate to employment.  This project looked at the employment market, analyzing the demands and needs of the labor market and create a link between the people, their education and the labor market.  Allowing young people to take advantage of this prism to find the best employment solutions, either in their countries or abroad.

The labor market is like a prism, it is diverse, complex and full of opportunities.  The educational system in the EU is equally diverse allowing people to follow a path to their unique desires, let’s assume that education is the light and the labor force is the prism, together, in the right conditions we have a rainbow of colors, the various jobs, and employment opportunities.  Most young people see the employment/labor market as a piece of glass, meaning what they study should result in a job.  This shows us that young people don’t really understand the diversity and ever-growing labor market, not only in their countries but in the EU.  We see that young people enjoy the freedom of mobility in the EU and often take advantage of the possibility to work in other countries, often larger or richer countries, yet leaving a labor market searching for qualified people and often resulting in these countries searching for employees from abroad.  The mobility is a fantastic opportunity and allows for the EU to grow and diversify, but this still leaves us with a gap between the labor force and the labor market.

This project addressed this gap, looking at ways to better understand the labor market, the needs of each labor market, both local and European, then taking the skills, knowledge, education, and competences of young people and matching them to needs of the labor market allowing young people to find the best employment opportunities based on these.

Many young people have complained that most employers need experienced workers, and this is one thing that young people are not able to get without employment.  The project explored various EU and national tools that will allow young people to gain experience, gained added knowledge, skills and competences so that they can meet the needs of the labor market.

Our project was developed by the partnership by identifying the most common concerns of young people in the partner countries involved.  We have a diverse level of experience in the labor markets allowing us to share and exchange knowledge and good practices for a European solution for young people, allowing young people to be empowered and innovative in their approach to the labor market and allowing them to understand the labor market and its needs and also understanding their skills and competences and matching these with the needs of the labor market, thus creating employment opportunities and letting them pave the way to their own future.

The project also had business experts talking to the participants giving them the perspective of the labour market from those who are in the labour market.  We had educators who will help us identify the possible faults of young people in their educational choices.

This project organized by OTI International in Cyprus.