EU told to prioritise vocational training to create more jobs
The European Union must prioritise careers guidance and vocational training for young people during its next term, in order to create more jobs across member states and tackle the alarming rates of youth unemployment.
This is one of the calls that the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) has made, ahead of next month's European elections.
The organisation has put together a policy briefing calling on the governing body to do more to ensure that businesses have the right conditions in place to expand and subsequently grow their workforces.
In order for this to happen, the REC has highlighted four key areas where it feels that the incoming European Parliament must work the hardest.
Number four on the list is addressing youth unemployment and labour market inclusion through greater guidance and training, as well as sharing best practice and raising awareness of various EU initiatives in support of businesses.
"Tackling high levels of youth unemployment across the EU must remain a key priority, so we believe the EU should prioritise careers guidance and vocational training," it said. "Equally, ensuring the right conditions for businesses to thrive is the surest way of providing a pathway to work."
Among the other points, the recruitment and employment trade body wants the EU to extend the scope of the EU services directive in order to remove one of the key barriers to growth in the service sector - by ensuring greater uniformity in regulatory requirements between regions and nations within the union.
On top of this, it has called for a review on current agency work rules, in line with the aims established by the EU Agency Workers Directive.
The Agency Workers Directive was proposed by the European Commission in order to ensure that temporary staff are treated equally, but the REC believes that restrictions still being imposed on temporary workers continue to "blight the continent" and make it difficult for many employers to quickly create jobs.
