LABOUR MARKET DYNAMICS AND ATTRACTIVE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTS IN THE SOUTH BALTIC REGION
ENHANCING COOPERATION BETWEEN SOUTH BALTIC LABOUR MARKET ACTORS
The local and regional labour markets of the South Baltic area are characterised by different socio-economic developments. In all European regions populations are ageing, but the southern rim of the Baltic Sea Regions faces additional challenges: high overall unemployment and an outflow of young, qualified people who seek better education and job opportunities in urban areas (“brain drain”). This brings forth a shrinking qualified labour force and reduced economic competitiveness in the long run. Joint cross-border actions are needed to match the labour market demands by promoting the South Baltic area as an attractive place to live and work in.
Nine partners from Poland, Lithuania and Germany tackle these challenges within the “South Baltic Professionals” project by conducting an analysis of the labour market situation and of barriers to labour force mobility. Furthermore, South Baltic Professionals will carry out the pilot actions regarding job promotion and qualification. The partners cooperate with 15 associated organisations.
OBJECTIVES
Bringing together labour market stakeholders in order to initiate a cross-border exchange on actual labour market challenges throughout the South Baltic area.
Development of cross-border job information and promotion concepts.
Preparation of joint concepts and measures for labour market actors to deal with cross-border job placements.
Making the South Baltic labour market more accessible by initiating internships and exchange co-operations.
SELECTED ACTIVITIES
Information and promotion portal
To promote the South Baltic area as an attractive place to live and work in the portal www.sb-professionals-project.eu will be created. This promotion and recruitment portal will help companies located in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, Szczecin, Tri-City and Klaipeda Region to attract workers. Furthermore, the portal will contain the country – specific information for the job seekers, and job centre staff about job opportunities as well as working and living conditions across the borders. The information provided will also cover Denmark and Southern Sweden.
South Baltic EURES declaration
During the project lifetime the project partners will initiate a new cross-border partnership for the South Baltic under the umbrella of the official EURopean Employment Services (EURES) network. This new partnership will help to raise knowledge among employers and employees from all countries about job opportunities in the South Baltic Region and make it easier for them to deal with barriers to an integrated labour market. Details for the cooperation will be defined in a joint declaration at the end of the project lifetime to guarantee the continuous exchange of information between labour market actors in the long term.
EXPECTED OUTPUTS
- Exchange on employment conditions and successful labour market tools
- Analysis on South Baltic labour markets and labour force mobility
- Border region case studies about barriers for labour mobility
- In-depth studies of key branches regarding labour demands
- Knowledge date base “How to get employed in the South Baltic Region”
- Cross-border workshops involving labour market representatives into exchange of good practices and successful labour market tools
- Public conference addressed to employers and trade unions
- Cross-border action plan with employment policy recommendations
- Pilot actions “Fostering Internationalisation and Attractive Business Environments in the South Baltic Regions”
- Promotion concepts for employment in the South Baltic Region including development of recruitment portal www.sb-professionals-project.eu
- Career Days at Universities of Rostock and Klaipeda
- Model Agreement between companies and universities for cross-border internships and writing master thesis abroad
- E-learning curricula focused on improving intercultural competences of job centre staff, students and company managers.
Further information abort the project: www.sb-professionals-project.eu
GENERAL FACTS
- Project duration:
January 2012 – December 2014
Total project budget:
1,3 million EUR