OCCUPATIONAL TRAINING WITHOUT COMMENCING EMPLOYMENT: ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES.

Active Labour Market Policy (ALMP) aims to reduce unemployment by increasing the employability of specific categories of the unemployed. Occupational training without commencing employment, officially called Work, Internship and Transportation, is a form of the Youth Guarantee reform. This measure, which has been implemented since mid-2010 by co-financing the work of young people with no work experience, has both advantages and disadvantages that we wanted to explore more closely. Therefore, in May 2018, a survey was conducted on a sample of 207 young people up to the age of thirty, who were beneficiaries of the aforementioned measure in the City of Split. The study aimed to investigate the (dis-)advantages of occupational training without commencing employment, as well as the effects of the implemented measure on further employment. During the study, the majority of respondents were unemployed and limited-term employees. Prior to the implementation of occupational training, they expected interesting work assignments (71.5%), effective work relationships (86.5%), and adequate workspace and equipment (more than 80%). The respondents with a university degree did not rate occupational training more positively than those with lower education, nor did they mention its greater benefits in further employment. As for the main reasons in favour of the implementation of occupational training without commencing employment, the respondents emphasize the need for work experience of any kind, especially such in the professions which they were educated for, and the acquisition of formal work experience. In addition to their positive experiences, such as gaining new knowledge and acquaintances, they also highlight the negative experiences and shortcomings of the measure. These are, primarily, insufficient remuneration and equally poor job prospects after training, lack of acquired expertise, a feeling of working for free, as well as the "circularity" of the measure, which significantly impedes permanent employment in the workplace where the training was conducted. In conclusion, the measure mainly provides a temporary solution of youth unemployment and mitigates its proportions, contributing to an apparent reduction in the number of unemployed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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