Newcomers@Work Strengthening the Employability of Young Refugee and Migrant NEETs

Project objectives

Newcomers@Work aimed at supporting young refugee/migrant NEETs — young people not in education, employment or training — in their integration into the labour market, while addressing both employers’ lack of awareness and the scarcity of integrated job opportunities.

Target groups

The key target groups of the project were:

• newly arrived migrants, refugees or asylum seekers aged between 18 and 25 who were not in education, employment or training and had been living in the host country for less than 5 years;
• youth professionals working with refugee/migrant NEET youth;
• employers who could offer employability opportunities to young refugee/migrant NEETs.

Results:

1. Improved local employment systems for migrants in the hosting countries, by creating a holistic support services interlinking local youth workers with employers.
2. Fostered transnational cooperation to transfer experience, knowledge and practices linked to the employment services putting youth workers as the bridge between young NEETs of refugee/migrant background with local employer.
3. Higher quality engagement and involvement of local employers, who will be supported in mentoring and employing migrants.

Added value

At local and national level, the Newcomers@Work project was expected to exert a significant impact on provisions and services targeted at young NEET migrants and refugees in Portugal, Romania, Greece, two regions of Poland, Italy and Luxembourg.

The challenges addressed by the project went beyond national borders. The project’s approach, supported by multilingual results and well-targeted dissemination activities with a clear European dimension, had the potential to generate impact at European level, as it provided solutions to a common problem.

Implemented activities

• Tailor-made curriculum for youth workers working with young refugee/migrants’ NEETs: development of four modules (1. The Needs of the NEETs; 2. Language and Digital Skills for Employability; 3. Soft/Life Skills for Employability; 4. Creating synergies and facilitate the delivery of learning) catered to support the training needs of youth professionals to effectively handle issues related to the employment and integration of newly arrived migrants.
• Digital toolbox for job mentoring: elaboration of tools to support employers in their job-mentoring with refugee/migrant. The role of the trainer and mentor who will assist these young people in the process of finding and keeping a job which is corresponds to their skills, knowledge and aspirations.
• Migrants’ Traineeship experience and transferrable guide: structured work-experience of migrants with their mentors within on-the-job training activities, following in the elaboration of
  a to-do guide for sustainability.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.