APPRENTICESHIP REFORM & THE YOUTH GUARANTEE OPPORTUNITIES AND RISKS IN GREECE

1. APPRENTICESHIP REFORM& THE YOUTH GUARANTEE OPPORTUNITIES AND RISKS IN GREECE Bruno Coquet OAED Conference - Athens, 14 February 2014

2. Apprenticeship : from theory to implementation • Youth Guarantee and the Apprenticeship reform • Two challenges at the same time • Apprenticeship reform : apprenticeship, but also professional education • Youth Guaranty plan : extra money that should be used efficiently • Possibly conflicting, should be made mutually reinforcing • Making apprenticeship work : 6 challenges • Cooperation : a shared issue (education and labour market) • Information : long term skills information (supply and demand) • Matching : short term skills information (supply and demand) • Guiding : coordination between education and labour market institutions • Financing : too much worse than too few in current economic conditions • Outcomes : the real “solution” is not entering apprenticeship but finding a job

3. Youth unemployment & Youth Guarantee • Unemployment structure • Unemployment far more higher in FR than in Greece • Youth unemployment is more acute in relative terms in FR than in GR • Youth : 13% of the unemployed in Greece 23% in France • Youth is an issue, retraining prime age workers also • YG Plan in France: a consensus based process • FR : already many programmes for youth (education and labour market) • All stakeholders should work together, more and better • Better information, better shared • YG Plan in Greece: an asset to do more and better • Identify and address of Greece’s Youth unemployment specificities • All stakeholders should work together, more and better • Public intervention should make sense from a young citizen point of view • YG in Greece : a consensus building process

4. YG & apprenticeship : opportunities • Apprenticeship : a smart “within 4 months” solution • Students becoming NEETS can get a timeless “solution” • Starting point • Inefficient organisation up to now • Opportunities were wasted both for employers and apprentices • Small companies • Small companies are overrepresented in Greece • In many countries small companies often train and hire more apprentices. • A risk : Greek companies are not convinced by “on the job training” • Employers’ will to finance a part of the scheme is the right signal.

5. YG & apprenticeship : risks • No skills forecast • Demand from companies, at microeconomic level, is the only concrete driver. • Skills demand only appears at local and companies level • Good practices exist (SEV) and should be promoted, but are not sufficient • Students’ guidance is currently blind • Risk : “solutions” offered through YG could be misleading • Carrying out a skills forecast at national level is an absolute priority • Identify and describe labour market flows • A consequence : carefully control financial incentives • Avoid “0 cost” apprenticeship • Employers’ will to finance a part of the scheme is the right signal. • A subsidy shall cover training costs (and a different one trainers’ training) • The apprentice should get a small -but motivating enough- wage

6. Points to watch • Economic conditions • The number of apprentice positions changes in line with private employment. • Financing • Cost and financing of “apprenticeship contracts” are still unclear • Financial support to apprenticeship programs are not identified in the YGIP (only the reform, or support to institutions) • Cooperation • Cooperation between “labour” and “education” was poor but is improving • Better coordinate stakeholders in education and in the labour market. • Clear mapping of “who does what?” mapping would be useful • Unclear information systems to support guidance in schools and in the labour market (supply and demand)