A few days ago, an important bill was discussed, which, as announced, “puts on a new basis the operation of OAED and transforms it into a modern and flexible European Public Employment Service, which will no longer be equated with unemployment, but instead will become synonymous with employment.
The central objective of the reform is to effectively support the unemployed, and in particular the long-term unemployed, to re-enter the labor market and to transform the Agency into a tool for increasing employment, with an emphasis on designing and implementing active employment policies, rather than just a necessary but not sufficient benefit policy.
The bill “Jobs Again: Reorganization of the Public Employment Service and digitization of its services, upgrading of skills of the workforce and diagnosis of work needs and other provisions” upgrades and promotes the necessary modernization of OAED, in order to respond more effectively to its modern and society and the ever-changing demands of the labor market “.
As already announced, the bill is based on three pillars – reorganization, new tools to boost employment and upgrade the training system – and has the following main objectives:
“1. The more active support of the unemployed and especially the long-term unemployed with new digital tools, in order to enter the labor market and the reward of those who are actively looking for and finding a job. out of work for long periods of time, as unfortunately the OAED register, instead of a tool for reintegration into the labor market, has become in practice for thousands of citizens a “trap” of long-term unemployment.
Of the more than 500,000 long-term unemployed, ie those who have been registered for more than a year, 33% remain in it for more than 5 years, while 10% are registered for more than 10 years.
For this, a bonus of 300 euros is provided for the long-term unemployed over 5 years who draw up a digital individual action plan.
Also, for the first time, a work allowance will be granted, which corresponds to 50% of the unemployment benefit and will be paid to those unemployed who find work, during the period of payment of the regular unemployment benefit, until its expiration.
2. The treatment of the phenomena of abuse of passive allowance policies. Income criteria are now in place to ensure that benefits and incomes are directed to those who really need them. As the priority is to focus spending on the real unemployed, the bill explicitly stipulates that the resources saved by the implementation of the new regulations will be directed to other actions for the protection and support of job seekers.
Also, the activation of the deletion from the register of unemployed, after three denials of suitable jobs or refusal to participate in a training action, taking into account, among others, the employment profile of the unemployed, his previous salary and his place of residence. Although the unemployed are deleted from the unemployment register for 2 years and 6 months respectively, they do not lose the basic social benefits, such as the social household tariff, the arrangements for ENFIA and the heating allowance. In addition, nothing changes about unemployment benefits.
3. The subsidized training programs should be designed in such a way as to ensure that the money really takes place, ie it offers knowledge and skills that lead to the reintegration of the beneficiaries into quality jobs.
At the same time, through the programs, the digital skills of the country’s human resources will be upgraded to improve the country’s ranking in the European Skills Index (European Skills Index), the European Center for Vocational Education and Training (CEDEFOP), in which Greece in 2022 it is ranked: 4th from the end in terms of skills development (skills development), 5th from the end in skills activation (skills activation) and penultimate in skills matching (skills matching).
“With the regulations we are promoting, we are raising the bar for both training providers and trainees, with the aim of turning training into an effective tool for the unemployed to find work and companies to find the right staff.”
At the same time, the drafting of the bill reforms all the pillars of the Organization with targeted interventions, the most basic of which are:
“work allowance for the subsidized unemployed who find work,
long-term unemployed bonuses for drawing up a digital individual action plan,
new digital tools: DYPA digital card, digital register and digital individual action plan,
tackling the phenomenon of abuse of benefits in OAED,
deletion from the register, after three denials of suitable jobs or training,
creation of individual skills accounts for continuous and quality training,
reform of training to meet the needs of the economy,
evaluation and accountability of training providers,
linking the fees of providers and trainees with the results of the training,
creation of a National Council of Workforce Skills,
upgraded housing policy with the use of real estate,
renaming of OAED to Public Employment Service,
smaller and more flexible Board of Directors and establishment of three Deputy Governors, establishment of a Council of Social Partners “.
“The reorganization and modernization of a body that is growing and will continue to grow – in terms of responsibilities, resources and impact on society – is a prerequisite for strengthening its pivotal and multifaceted role as a pillar of social and economic policy, in order to offer even more The implementation of the actions and the absorption of the 2 billion euros provided by the National Plan “Greece 2.0” for OAED require a substantial upgrade and the necessary modernization.
“Another axis is the upgraded housing policy, through which the property of the former Workers’ Housing Organization, which has come to the Organization, will be utilized more effectively, but also a dynamic policy will be developed that will facilitate housing for thousands of workers, especially young people.” the commander of OAED Spyros Protopsaltis, speaking to APE-MPE.
At the same time, Mr. Protopsaltis underlines: “We want a strong, truly modern and efficient European Public Employment Service, which will play an even more crucial role in the labor market, will be a synonym for employment and skills upgrading and will provide more and better services faster to citizens and businesses OAED is changing, to meet the new and ever-changing needs of the economy and to play its role more effectively, especially in terms of supply-demand coupling in the labor market, in the provision of digital services, “The world is changing, the labor market is changing and it is our duty to change and to offer ‘Jobs Again'”.
Source: AMPE
Source: Capital
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