Academic Centre
November 27, 2012 the 3rd Centralbaltic Job Ferry project organized by the Turku University of Applied Sciences (TUAS) took place in Turku, Finland. Project partners from Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden and Germany, the Head of the Joint Technical Secretariat of the Central Baltic Interreg IVA Programme 2007-2013, as well as labour market experts from Employers organizations of Latvia and Estonia, Latvian Trade Union, University of Stockholm, TUAS and Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment of Finland participated in this workshop
The Head of the Joint Technical Secretariat of the Central Baltic Interreg IVA Programme 2007-2013 Dr. Philipp Schwartz addressing the Workshop participants emphasised the importance of cross-border labour market issues for promoting the sustainable economic development in the region, as well as recommended project partners to cooperate with other similar projects, such as the EXPAT project, being implemented in the Central Baltic Region to achieve greater efficiency dealing with labour market issues through exchange of information and experience.
The Deputy Director General of the Latvian Employers Confederation Mr. Eduards Filippovs informed about the Baltic Sea Labour Network project and a new regional platform for dealing with the labour market issues established as a result of this project - the Baltic Sea Labour Forum, which has been recognized as the flagman project in the EU Baltic Sea Region Strategy context. The Central Baltic Job Ferry project and its partner organizations received an invitation to join the Baltic Sea Labour Forum.
During the Workshop Ms. Kirsi-Maria Nikander representing the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment of Southwest Finland provided the information on support programmes for attracting foreign labour force to the Southwest Finland being implemented by Finnish employment services. According to Ms.Nikander employment services of Finland are actively working to identify potential deficit of employees in certain professions before it could create any problems for employers or people in Finland. As one of successful examples in attracting foreign labour force she mentioned projects for attracting nurses from Latvia and Spain which were integrated into the Finnish labour market and currently works for hospitals of this country. Employment services of Finland are attaching great importance to issues of integrating foreign employees in daily routine of Finland, including searching for apartments, opening bank accounts, helping with schools and kindergartens for their children, etc., as well as language training which is crucial for finding employment in Finland. At the same time Ms.Nikander stressed that the integration of foreign workers in the Finnish labour market is complicated, time and resources consuming procedure, but this is very important to ensure that the labour market has enough workers.
Participants of the Workshop discussed the application of a new Internet platform www.cbjobferry.eu for improving the cross-border labour mobility in the Central Baltic Region. Proposals for adding additional information and features to make this platform more attractive and useful were discussed. Partners are considering possibilities to publish on the www.cbjobferry.eu best practice examples, as well as information on practical issues which could help job seekers to find out more about living and working conditions, and responsible institutions in Central Baltic regions. This could be important to plan for advertising job vacancies on the platform, as well as connecting it with other platforms providing information on trends in different labour markets, language training, as well as information important for labour market participants.
The new Internet portal www.cbjobferry.eu offers information on the most demanded professions in the Central Baltic region, specific requirements for starting working in foreign country, legal and social regulations, level of salaries in certain professions, education opportunities, employer's organizations, potential employers, etc. The data base of most demanded professions available in this portal offers an opportunity for users to select and compare detailed information on countries or regions and professions according to user's requirements and interests, including qualification requirements, education level and other different criteria related to employment. This information could be useful for those who are searching for a job or education in particular profession abroad, as well as for employers looking for qualified workers in particular professions. In addition, information provided by the web site www.cbjobferry.eu could be useful for those looking for additional information on employment opportunities abroad in such well known labour mobility portals, as for example EURES.
The new Internet portal www.cbjobferry.eu is already available on-line, but its contents are still being actively complemented and completed until at least 50 of the most demanded professions in each of the four Centralbaltic Job Ferry partner countries or regions will be filled in.
The 4th Workshop and the Final Conference of the Centralbaltic Job Ferry project will take place in at the University of Latvia, Riga, March 2013.
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