Ravasz: Lacking Workforce Can Also Be Sought Among Roma

Spisska Nova Ves, March 28 (TASR) - Government Proxy for Roma Communities Abel Ravasz sees a solution to the lack of workforce currently reported by employers across Slovakia in involving companies that launch specific programmes to reach and employ Roma, while activation works should also help. Ravasz together with Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Centre general director Marian Valentovic informed in Spisska Nova Ves (Kosice region) about the possibilities of financing activities in the areas of employment. At the same time, they also presented a new collection entitled Good Practice of Activation Work. "The activation works have proven to be a flexible tool that can increase chances of employment of people from marginalised groups and often act as a springboard for the long-term unemployed. The role of this collection is to present successful and innovative examples of activation works in Slovakia," said Ravasz, adding that the collection can also be downloaded from the internet. In the collection they present activation works that were beneficial for the whole municipality, not just for a certain community. For example, restoring castles by manual labour. The Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Centre has also focused on supporting disadvantaged groups of job seekers. "Up to 80 percent of all funding from national projects and other activities is directed to these groups to enable them to move into the labour market and stay in the work process with the help of different tools in co-operation with employers and local authorities. We'll be glad if employers show an interest in employing Roma, and we're ready to co-operate taking into account the specific conditions of individual employers," added Valentovic. There were more than 65,000 long-term unemployed in Slovakia as of the end of February this year. am/mcs