How Can the Georgian Employment Agency Help Job Seekers?
For the first time in Georgia, a State Employment Promotion Agency has been launched. Opened on January 1, 2020, it aims to reduce the level of unemployment in the country and train qualified workers for potential employers.
After the new agency was launched, the functions and duties that were previously performed by the Social Service Agency will now be fulfilled by the State Employment Promotion Agency. These include professional development, training, retraining, internships, subsidies, counselling and career planning. The same agency will be responsible for managing circular migration issues, for which local staff will be trained and legally employed abroad.
Before the employment agency was established as an LEPL, a special department existed in the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labor, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia, that employed citizens or helped them improve their job prospects.
About 2,000 people were employed through the department annually, and the renewed agency intends to improve on this rate by around 15%.
In Q1 2020, the Employment Agency will be focused on finding its own staff and developing a structure. The agency will employ up to 100 people in its department on a budget of GEL 4 million ($1,393,728). The budget is similar to that allocated for the abovementioned department, but Deputy Health Minister Tamila Barkalaia believes the money will be spent more effectively as the agency plans to work individually with each beneficiary. She said that, together with beneficiary training, the agency may subisidize salaries of up to 480 GEL ($167) for not more than four months, but this will apply only to very vulnerable beneficiaries.
Barkalaia claims the biggest problem Georgia faces today is 'structural unemployment', when there is demand in the market and there are vacancies, yet there is a very high unemployment rate and the qualification of the unemployed does not meet market requirements.
“We saw a need for the State to become more involved with intermediary services in these processes and to help job seekers acquire the necessary skills and help them find a job. Not all job seekers have job qualifications, so they need a variety of support services,” she said, adding that, to date, the support programs involved only standard short-term trainings.
The Deputy Minister said beneficiaries will be put into four categories:
1. People who have work experience and job seekers;
2. People who want to improve their working conditions;
3. Unemployed persons with no work experience;
4. Persons whose qualifications are outdated.
In the first and second cases, the employment agency's assistance may be limited to providing them with information about vacancies and in-demand professions. In the third and fourth cases, the involvement of consultants will be greater.
“Sometimes, the beneficiary comes with a specific vision of his or her career that may not be in line with his or her qualifications or market requirements. Our consultants will provide them with appropriate advice, helping them to plan their careers. If needed, they will be sent on retraining courses, which will be funded by the State, to provide them with key qualifications and skills, such as filling out a CV, preparing a presentation, etc.,” said Barkalaia.
The Deputy Minister also noted that focus will be placed what is in demand on the market today.
“The Employment Agency will fund the programs and professions that are most requested by businesses, these currently being in the transport, construction and tourism sectors,” she added.
By Tea Mariamidze
Image source: Forbes