News item | 29-08-2022 | 09:40
Minister Schouten (Poverty Policy, Participation and Pensions) is making €50 million from European funds available to municipalities to guide job seekers to work. Of the amount, € 12.5 million had already been promised by the minister.
Municipalities can use the extra money for current labor market-oriented projects aimed at job seekers who receive services from the municipality. They can also use it to help Ukrainian refugees find work. “Municipalities can do more in this way to offer people who are still on the sidelines and who would like to work a stepping stone to a job,” said Minister Schouten. “The current tight labor market offers plenty of opportunities to utilize everyone’s talent.”
The funds are added to the European Social Fund (ESF). Activities carried out by municipalities until 1 October 2022 will be fully financed from this fund. After that, municipalities can continue to make use of the subsidy via the new ESF+ programme, whereby they themselves have to finance part of it.
Action plan
This spring, Minister Schouten and Minister Van Gennip (Social Affairs and Employment) launched an action plan to increase job opportunities for jobseekers and to help employers find staff more quickly via the labor market regions. In this, UWV and municipalities work together on services for employers and job seekers.