Brussels adopts youth employment stimulus package

The problem is not new. Brussels has been working together with the Flemish employment and vocational training service VDAB and its Brussels counterpart Actiris for some time to address the issue, but is now stepping up efforts.

Youngsters without a degree or proper training that are not included in unemployment statistics at present, will also be addressed by Actiris in an attempt to get them started. "We see that the gap between some youngsters and the labour market is really huge. These are mostly low-skilled youths", explains Sara Thomas of Actiris.

The plan is to cooperate with specialised teams. Social workers or teams that have good local contacts will address the youths in their suburban area to talk to them directly in order to motivate them to follow a training with Actiris, which should prepare them for the labour market.