Hatzidakis: Reforms for the utilization of digital training funds

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A total of 700,000 employed and unemployed people will participate in training programs

“The funds available to us to finance the training of workers and the unemployed are more than ever before. The issue, however, is not only to absorb them, but above all to utilize them for the benefit of the national economy, the unemployed and businesses”.

This was noted by the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Kostis Hatzidakis, speaking today at the Digital Economy Forum, organized by the Association of Informatics and Communications Companies of Greece, in the context of which he presented the actions of the ministry aimed at the proper functioning of the training system.

These reforms, which were established by law “Jobs Again” for the reorganization of the OAED, as the minister mentioned, are:

Firstlythe payment of training providers and beneficiaries is now linked to the results they achieve, the so-called “Payment by Results”. “30% of the fee is paid, if the work has been done correctly based on the criteria provided by law. We are moving forward with a new logic: we will support you, but you have to prove that you are serious, because we are interested in getting the money”, commented the minister.

Secondly, Universities entered training. For the first time, the unemployed gained access to training programs from the country’s top universities. “It was already done at EKPA. The program is not only symbolic, but also essential, because it raises the bar, increases competition and shows the unemployed that training is not just a process to get a benefit, but something essential”, Mr. Hatzidakis emphasized.

Thirdly, there is an emphasis on certification, particularly from large international technology companies that provide recognized certifications in digital and green skills. DYPA has already launched partnerships with international technology giants, such as Google, Cisco, Amazon, Microsoft and Huawei. “It’s not about “will”, plans and promises, the programs have started and are being implemented. There are children and older fellow citizens of ours who have been trained and there is an extremely high demand for these programs, mainly because there is progress in the careers of these people”, underlined the minister.

At the same time, Mr. Hatzidakis noted that the country has taken us in the past a lot of money from the European Union for skills development, however, “if we look at the tables, we will see that Greece is in second to fourth place from the bottom, which means that we have not taken the training issues”. “We must”, he said, “overcome a Greek pathology: not only think about the service providers, but also about the many defenseless Greeks. So that the providers also win, but also that the system works properly.”

He also emphasized that in the training and retraining programs, amounting to 1 billion eurosfinanced by the Recovery Fund, as well as in the training actions of special groups of the population with funds from the new NSRF, will participate in the coming years 700,000 workers and unemployedj. Already, the program of the Public Employment Service started in the summer to initially train 80,000 unemployed people, which, due to the high demand that the program had, eventually became 120,000, mainly in digital skills and secondarily in green skills, while following the retraining and upskilling program for 150,000 workers across all sectors of the economy, with a renewed focus on digital and green skills.

We are left behind, because the correct programming was not done and now we are running behind the problem. However, we have two very positive developments: on the one hand, the amount of funds available from the Recovery Fund and the NSRF, and on the other, a government that has grasped the magnitude of the problem and realizes that it must run quickly and efficiently. From our side, there will be speed and efficiency”, concluded Mr. Hatzidakis.

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