Public employment services and communication with employers: Experiences and good practices from Europe and Latin America

More than sixty people participated in the workshop Exchange of good practices on communication of public employment services with employers: Experiences from Europe and analysis of how COVID-19 has changed the relationship, organized by SOCIEUX+ and the Ministry of Labor of Ecuador in October and November 2021.

The workshop is part of a technical cooperation package that, since May 2021, the Ministry of Labor has been developing with SOCIEUX+ to strengthen the capacities of public employment staff, to facilitate supply and demand (both public and private) of employers and job seekers with decent employment conditions, thanks to streamlined business management processes and tools.

The workshop, which was conducted online through the SOCIEUX+ e-learning platform over four weeks, combined live sessions, recorded interviews, and shared documents, covering specific aspects such as establishing a communication department , the communication needs of companies, events organisation, the use of social media, the humanisation of communication, inclusive communication, and international partnerships.

The new relationship between public employment services and employers due to the COVID-19 pandemic was another topic discussed. Likewise, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were addressed as cross-cutting themes throughout the workshop, especially SDG 5 on gender equality, SDG 8 on decent work, and SDG 10 on reducing inequalities.

For this activity, SOCIEUX+ mobilised experts Pedro Parra, from the Spanish Public Employment Service (SEPE), and Sara Cruz, from the Regional Directorate of Pôle Emploi Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (France). Twenty speakers from international, European and Latin American organisations were also invited to share experiences. In total, five European public employment services, three Latin American public employment services, three international organisations and one HR company shared their knowledge and experiences on the subject:

• Brussels Public Employment Service ACTIRIS.
• Servicio Andaluz de Empleo (SAE), Spain.
• Instituto Aragonés de Empleo (INAEM), Spain,
• Référent Eures Île-de-France at Pôle Emploi, France.
• Bolsa Nacional de Empleo of Chile.
• Servicio Público de Empleo of Colombia.
• Servicio Nacional de Empleo (SNE), Mexico.
• The human resource company Randstad Spain.
• Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
• World Association of Public Employment Services (AMSEP/WAPES).

The workshop was also attended by the Delegation of the European Union in Ecuador, which provided information and advice on various sources of funding that could be used to implement the recommendations generated from the workshops.

The cooperation between the Ecuadorian Ministry of Labor and SOCIEUX+ will continue with two new activities planned for early 2022; the development of a communication plan to increase the visibility of benefits for employers based on good practices highlighted in the training workshop, and the development of a training plan on services for employers.

(SOCIEUX+ 2021-07)