In the period 2014-2020 Bulgaria will invest around 409 million levs in employment and education for young people up to the age of 29. „Around 230 million of the sum will be spent on programmes and measures to provide services that will cover about 420,000 people,“ said Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Policy Iveta Iankova. In this context, on 1 January 2014 the national plan for implementing the European Youth Guarantee will become operational. Its main objective is the unemployment rate among those aged 15-24 years of age, which is now 28.1 percent, to be lowered by 2020 by 7 percentage points.
The programme will be implemented primarily through the labour offices of the Employment Agency. The state labour exchange will „activate“ young people looking for work to be included in the additional qualifications programmes and continue their training. The plan will be coordinated by a steering committee chaired by the Minister of Social Affairs Ademov. It will involve employees of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, as well as representatives of employers, trade unions and youth organizations. The first step in the implementation of the guarantee will be funded by 24 million lev from the national budget. According to Iankova, the most urgent thing is to find those who are not employed, don’t study and are not registered in labour offices.
Individual programmes will be developed in 2014 for 75,000 youths and twice as many will go through a temporary subsidized employment. The government intends to provide permanent jobs for about 60,000 people. The rest will be directed to training courses, retraining and motivational programmes with a duration of four months. „We expect service and integration of young people into the labour market in 2014 to cost 124 million levs. These are funds from the Youth Guarantee scheme, supported by public spending, as well as money under the Human Resources Development operational programme. „These are about 30 million euro, which will cover the creation of sustainable employment for 1,270 youths,“ said Iankova.
All the programmes that are running through the Employment Agency, offer the young people at least the minimum wage, which after January 1 becomes 340 levs. Part of the schemes for graduates as well as those for occupations with higher insurance levels will be better paid. They compensation rates will reach up to 450 levs.
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