The Employment and Training Corporation has received a total of 4,498 vacancies in the first six months of this year. This is a sharp increase of 843 vacancies (23 per cent) over the same period last year. The number of people placed in employment also increased by 300 (19 per cent) over the same period last year. A total of 1,874 were placed in employment during the first half of this year.
During the same period, there were 1,004 redundancies, a drop of 397 (28 per cent) from the same period last year.
The ETC attributes this increase to the changing economic climate as well as to its increased efforts in capturing more vacancies from the private sector and in placing more people in employment. A particular initiative that contributed to placing more people in employment is the Employment Aid Programme, which subsidises the wages of job seekers who are in disadvantaged situations. Another initiative is the Work Trial Scheme that gives job seekers an opportunity to gain work experience in a real place of work. Through this scheme, employers have the chance to try their prospective employees and receive a 50 per cent subsidy of the minimum wage. Through the Community Work Scheme, the ETC is addressing the specific needs of job seekers who have been registering for work uninterruptedly for five years or more.
ETC also invests in the training of the workforce and job seekers. It offers a vast range of training programmes, free of charge, to job seekers as well as workers who want to upgrade their skills or learn new ones. Recently, it launched a publicity campaign to promote its training and the importance of investing in training. Through the Training Aid Framework, ETC also gives generous subsidies to local companies that sponsor the training of their employees, up to a PhD level.
Other initiatives target young job seekers. Recently, the ETC launched the Youth Employment Programme that provides various services and activities specifically for young people. Some of the services include the assistance of a professional occupational therapist, career guidance practitioners and a psychologist. A TV programme for youth, workshops, seminars and job fairs will be organised for this particular client group.
The ETC has job centres in Valletta, Birgu, Mosta, Qawra, Birkirkara and Victoria, Gozo. It has just opened a new training complex, which was built by European Union funds, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).