Session Name: Skills Development: Training, Counseling, Mentoring for Self-Employed Case Study: Bulgaria, Skills Training for Self-Employed as part

Transcription

1 Session Name: Skills Development: Training, Counseling, Mentoring for Self-Employed Case Study: Bulgaria, Skills Training for Self-Employed as part of the Employment Action Plan Presenter: Ms. Elka Dimitrova, Ph. D., Director of Labor Market Policy Directorate, Ministry of Labor and Social Policy

2 Content 1. Training for self-employment part of the Employment Action Plan of Bulgaria 2. Three examples training for new starters, training vouchers, training for future self-employed from the disadvantaged groups of unemployed 3. Main obstacles 4. Lessons learned 2

3 3 Bulgaria Member of the European Union:

4 Labor Market and Employment Policy in Bulgaria Bulgaria population = 7.3 million, 72.5% urban 2012 Q2 LM statistics: Activity rate = 66.6% Employment rate = 58.3% Unemployment rate = 12.3% Employment action plan of Bulgaria 4 Identifies the main challenges in the labour market, determines objectives, priorities and actions, target groups. Identifies active employment policies implemented by the state institutions, and also joint projects with the social partners and non-governmental organisations. Provides funding of active employment policy from the state budget, the European Social Fund, and others. Determines the eligibility of expenditures of the employers wages, social contributions and of the unemployed for training, daily allowances, travel costs etc.

5 Services To Set Up A Business The Pathway Consulting services reimbursed Grant, loan or lump sum of the unemployment benefits Social contributions reimbursed for the first year Information for the projects Business plan Approval of the Business plan by a commission Self-employment Start of the activities Training Skills VT Consulting services after the start 5

6 Three Examples: 1. Project Promotion Of The Start Of Projects For Self-Employment Training for entrepreneurial competencies; Training for managerial competencies small and medium enterprises; Grant for the entrepreneur about $ ; Funding from the ESF and the state budget 13.4 mln. $; trained incl unemployed; 6

7 Three examples: 2. Training Vouchers In Bulgaria vouchers for training are applied for training of employed and unemployed. Funding from the European Social Fund. One person is entitled to one voucher for vocational training and one voucher for training in key competencies; The voucher for training has the status as a banknote with nominal value in accordance to the training, entitling the holder to training. The Employment Agency (Public employment Service) provides vouchers for training with; Training institutions are selected by the social partners and the list is published on the Employment Agency website and in the Labor Offices. After receiving the voucher 7 he or she chooses himself or herself the training provider from the list;

8 Three examples: 3. Project JOBS- Job Opportunities through Business Support A joint project of UNDP, MLSP of Bulgaria, municipalities and other partners One of the main activities of the project is training for vulnerable groups to start small business: Motivation, literacy; Vocational training farming, construction, beekeepers; Business skills basic skills for panning, marketing, management of a small enterprise ; Herbs initiative unemployed from Roma population easy- to-grasp practical training, provision of seedlings for plantation, on-site agronomist assistance, sales assistance; Results 827 farmers supported to grow and sell their production, 1200 people trained, 66 farmers assisted with organic certification, jobs created; Total self-employed trained inc Roma 8

9 Main Obstacles / Challenges Lack of motivation for learning; Limited budget and big number of applicants with various expectations; Deadweight losses training provided to well educated persons, low performance of validation, not taking into consideration the informal learning; low number of new businesses created after the training; Lack of balance between theory and practice, because the trainers do not know the real business environment and can not provide enough soft skills for starting and keep a successful business; Spending of time and money for prestigious training than training for skills like entrepreneurial thinking, initiative taking, leadership, creativity as well as team work; 9

10 Lessons Learned The main goal is increased number of more innovative, high growth and ambitious new ventures than traditional, stable and less risky. The most important entrepreneurial skills are: increased ability to detect opportunities and select the promising organizational and human competencies knowledge needed by an entrepreneur. Skills are needed to turn ideas into action, run a business, motivating, adaptability, using opportunities, and handle different situations with ease, skills for negotiations, evaluation of the risk; Flexible forms of training arrangements are necessary distant learning, learning by doing, weekend courses; New curricula, train the trainers, enhanced practical training, etc.; Involvement in the training and the elaboration of curricula of sector employers bodies; Better access of disadvantaged groups; The support of the unemployed to start a new venture needs more funding than the monthly social benefits for the same people but the social impact is higher The trained entrepreneurs have to have access to the right supporting structures that will enable the seeds of enterprise to sprout and grow into fruit-bearing trees. 10

11 Thank you for your attention!