The project of Council of Tenerife neighborhoods for the job: stronger together is consolidated with a budget for 2023 of 3.9 million euros, similar to the previous year. The main novelty is the preparation of people who lack formal training so that they can apply for Professional Certificates, an additional competitive advantage in a selection process. It should also be noted that they are already 27 service points throughout the Island. At the same time, a program will be launched to meet the specific needs and improve the employability of the Gypsy People, as well as a Technical Training School, in which all the participating entities will participate to train future employment technicians who will take advantage of the experience and the methodology applied in a practical way. It will also recognize the 1,156 collaborating companiess with the delivery of a badge to give visibility to its commitment to Tenerife society.
The island project integrated 524 people with disabilities last year, 32% more than in 2021. This is explained by the island councilor of Social Action, Marian Franquet, who adds that 213 were trained and another 126 were inserted. It is the balance of an initiative that is growing. Franquet values: “I think we should be proud of the results obtained. It is evident that this program opens an important door for new employment niches, which make it easier for people with disabilities to form a full part of the citizenry.” Six entities are promoting the initiative: Diocesan Caritas, Red Cross, the General Foundation of the University of La Laguna (FGULL). Don Bosco Foundation, the Island Foundation for Training, Employment and Business Development (Fifede) and the Island Society for the Promotion of People with Disabilities (Sinpromi).
Neighborhoods for employment: stronger together achieved historic results against unemployment on the island during 2022. The president of the council, Peter Martin, thanks the 107 technicians from the social groups for the task they have carried out and highlights that every euro invested in this program generates 8 for Tenerife society. Martín announces that 1,411 people got a job, the best data in the eight years of execution. These good results are, the president points out, to a large extent, “a consequence of the work of the six associations that collaborate, the effort and the improvements introduced in recent years, with which we have managed to reach new groups, such as people with disabilities , and adjust the program to current needs”. The presentation of the new program was also attended, in addition to Martín and Franquet, by the Minister of Employment, Socioeconomic Development and Foreign Action, Carmen Luz Baso, and the general secretary of Cáritas Diocesana Tenerife, Ricardo Gil, representing the collaborators in the project. Along with them, a good part of a hundred people who make up the technical team that runs the program also came to pack the Noble Hall. During the event, Pedro Martín highlighted the important social return of the initiative with which “for every euro invested, 8 euros of benefits are generated in society, which gives a good account of the usefulness and profitability of this project and more than justifies the money we are investing”. Some results that, as the president emphasized, “are the result of the daily work of the work team, as well as of the 1,156 companies and organizations that actively participate in the actions that are carried out.”
For her part, Carmen Luz Baso, explained that “in 2022 a new record of people attended was broken, improving both quantitative and qualitative results to enhance the quality and stability of the insertions made and promote both training and the provision of skills for job performance. In this context, the counselor pointed out that “last year 5,200 people were attended, of which 27% were hired and almost half received professional training, an important fact considering that 87% of the unemployed in Tenerife lack professional qualifications”. The general secretary of Cáritas Diocesana de Tenerife, Ricardo Gil, reviewed the methodology of the program with which “we get where other employment policies cannot go by giving importance to the person”. “We try to listen and understand who is the person who has come to our service and that it is she who discovers her abilities to, from there, build the path knowing what can be worked on”, added Gil, who stressed that ” this project could not advance without the commitment of all the agents involved in employment and collaborating companies”. Gil highlighted the great milestones of neighborhoods for employment, such as custom insertion itineraries; the approach to the territory and the community approach; the management and transfer of knowledge, and actions for vulnerable groups.
a good balance
Last year, a total of 1,411 people accessed a job through Neighborhoods for Employment: Stronger Together. This means that four people accessed a job every day in 2022, the best year in terms of the results obtained by this program, which since 2019 has served 19,628 people. The president of the Cabildo, Pedro Martín, points out that the good results of this program respond to “the vocation and desire” of the workers “to solve one of the biggest problems that exist on the Island”, as well as the budget destined to support the generation of employment between 2020 and 2022, more than 54 million euros. Martín highlighted that in the last two years Neighborhoods for Employment: Stronger Together’ has managed to register 2,000 new hires, 13,078 grants to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the self-employed, as well as 2,751 protected jobsCounselor Baso explained that the 5,200 attended represent 9.9% more than in 2019;, Likewise, the training of 2,328 people has been promoted, 655 more than in 2019, and the degree of labor insertion has increased, in such a way that 27.1% of those who participated in the program have found a job, compared to 22% in the year before the pandemic. Neighborhoods for Employment It is a project that works and gives alternatives to people who are looking for an opportunity. In addition, without the social fabric “it would be unthinkable,” said the president of the Cabildo. Those present highlighted the methodology as a positive factor that has been improving year after year, it is one of the contributions to society and a return in the form of knowledge transfer for the public support received.
