Brussels, 27 May 2010; Collaboration between public and private employment services can deliver significant opportunities in moving people into the workplace, transitioning them between jobs and sectors and implementing flexicurity polices, asserts Eurociett, the Confederation of Private Employment agencies.

As the Spanish Presidency prepares to host a conference on “New approaches in public employment services to promote employability and the adaptability of workers to new forms of employment” on 27 and 28 May in Zaragosa, Francisco Aranda Manzano, Vice President of Eurociett will be in attendance to highlight the role of the private employment sector in unlocking labour market potential.

“Europe’s labour markets are not working efficiently with the result that there are 22 million people unemployed across Europe, but also 4 million unfilled vacancies. Effective cooperation between public and private employment agencies can facilitate access to labour markets by matching supply and demand, strengthening geographic, social and occupational mobility and creating a win-win situation for all” stated Denis Pennel, Managing Director of Eurociett.

The European Commission stressed the importance of cooperation between the public and private employment sectors in its 2009 Communication ‘Shared Commitment to Employment’, and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) also endorsed it in their Conventions 2, 88 and 181. In some countries, private employment agencies are officially recognised as playing a key role in implementing public employment policies (e.g. in France and Italy), while in others there is still no cooperation.

“Public and Private Employment services share the same common objective of bringing as many people as possible into the workplace. By fostering better understanding between them they can begin to cooperate by exchanging information on job vacancies and labour market trends. In some countries cooperation goes as far as taking skills assessments of unemployed people on behalf of Public Employment Services and subcontracting services to reintroduce jobseekers to the labour market. A good example of this cooperation is in France where Pôle Emploi (the French Public Employment Service) has requested the support of the Private Employment Agency industry to help 320,000 unemployed to re-enter the labour market in 2010/2011. Today the question is no longer why we should cooperate, but how.” concluded Pennel.

The Zaragosa conference, will gather senior officials and experts, to consider how public employment services will need to adapt their approach to the new market conditions and role it can play in helping to achieve the EU2020 goals.

Ends

For further information, please contact:

James Gribben

Eurociett Communications and Economic Affairs Advisor

Tel: +32 2 421 15 87 or james.gribben@ciett.org

As the European confederation of private employment agencies, Eurociett is the

authoritative voice representing the common interests of the agency work industry in Europe. Bringing

together 27 national federations and six of the largest multinational staffing companies as well as tens of thousands of SMEs, Eurociett accounts for more than 90% of the organised agency work sector in Europe. More info at www.eurociett.eu

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