ETC in bid to find work for long-term jobless

The Employment and Training Corporation (ETC) is making a bid to find jobs for the long-term unemployed as soon as possible.

It said it was interviewing clients who have been registering continuously for a year or more and would then offer them relevant and useful training courses with a view to reintegrating them in the labour market.

The interviews are compulsory - those who fail to attend without a justified reason will be struck off the unemployment register, the ETC said.

At present the ETC has over 3,046 clients who are classified as long-term unemployed. Of these, 496 have been registering for more than five years.

The ETC has engaged a number of interviewers to act as middle persons between the corporation's employment advisors and the clients. The interviewers will compile a report on the qualifications, skills, experience and motivation of these individuals.

These clients will be then referred to training programmes according to their preferences of work, qualifications and experience.

The ETC said it was quite aware that most of these jobseekers lacked several skills which were not helping them reintegrate in the ever demanding labour market.

The corporation now offers over 90 training programmes to its clients.

The interviews are being held at the Catholic Institute, in Floriana.