• These are the TandEM, Investigo and First Work Experience projects whose objective is to facilitate the access of children under 29 to the labor market • TandEM is a program inspired by the School Workshop; Investigo is oriented to R+D+I; First Work Experience involves the direct incorporation to practices • 374 young people from Castilla y León have a labor contract through these initiatives

October 17, 2023.- The Government delegate in Castilla y León, Virginia Barcones, has presented in Palencia the programs oriented to the creation of young employment managed by the Public Service of State Employment (SEPE). These are the TandEM, Research and First Work Experience programs that are already being developed in Palencia and from which 374 young people in Castilla y León benefit.

The government delegate in Castilla y León, Virginia Barcones, was accompanied by the government’s deputy delegate in Palencia, Ángel D. Miguel; the provincial director of the SEPE in Palencia, Jesús Manrique; the coordinator of the Fundación Secretariado Gitano, Sandra Morate; the deputy director of the Fundación Centro Tecnológico de Cereals de Castilla y León, Eva de la Gala, as well as the four young beneficiaries of some of these programs in the province of Palencia.

Virginia Barcones has thanked the Fundación Secretariado Gitano and CETECE for taking advantage of these programs to incorporate young people into the world of work or improve the professional experience, depending on the program they develop.

For the government delegate, the EPA unemployment rate makes it clear that it is necessary to “improve and facilitate the access of our young people to the labor market.” In this regard, Next Generation funds are already being used to finance employment and training programs, a budget of 687.7 million euros for employment programs agreed with the autonomous communities in July 2022 for the financing of employment and training programs, of which 37 million are allocated to Castilla y León.

Among these programs is the TandEM Program that the Fundación de Secretariado Gitano de Palencia is taking advantage of. It is a program inspired by the Workshop Schools and the Employment Workshops, managed by the State Public Employment Service (SEPE), which responds to the double challenge of training and employing unqualified young people, which opens possibilities for a stable life project. TándEM is included in the specific investment Youth Employment of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan and has a total budget of 120 million euros, 80 million corresponding to the year 2022 and 40 million to the year 2023.

TándEM also allows state public sector entities to promote positions in which training and employment alternate in activities of their competence and in line with the green, digital, cohesive and social economic transformation. Thus, young people who are unemployed and registered as job seekers between the ages of 16 and 29 - not qualified for the profession in which they will be trained - have the opportunity to train, in alternation with employment, in the Public Administration and get to know first-hand in this environment.

In the case of the Fundación Secretariado Gitano (FSG), it has served for the training of a young person who has carried out weeks of theoretical training and is combining them with practices at the headquarters of the Foundation. The Fundación Secretariado Gitano (Gypsy Secretariat Foundation) carries out all kinds of actions that contribute to achieving full citizenship of Gypsy people, improving their living conditions, promoting equal treatment and avoiding all forms of discrimination, as well as promoting the recognition of the cultural identity of the Gypsy community. Specifically, a young man is carrying out his first reception practices in the Mediation Service that the Fundación Secretariado Gitano has in Palencia, where he brings the added value of getting to know the community.

The TandEM Program currently brings together 100 students divided into several programs in the provinces of Valladolid, Salamanca, Palencia and Zamora. In the case of Palencia, the only one that is in progress at the moment is the one developed by the Fundación Secretariado Gitano.

THE RESEARCH PROGRAM

Another project with which SEPE is trying to help young people is the Investigo Program. It also aims to facilitate access to the labour market for young people between the ages of 16 and those under 30. In this case it is aimed at unemployed people and registered as job seekers in the realization of research and innovation initiatives.

Its purpose is the full-time recruitment of young researchers, technologists, technical staff and other professional profiles in R+D+I, as well as, where appropriate, research support staff, in public research and knowledge dissemination agencies, public universities, technology centres, science and technology parks, public bodies subject to private law and private non-profit entities, such as foundations, together with companies investing in research and innovation. The funding for the implementation of the actions amounts to 71 million euros. Of these, 58.7 million euros were for the financial year 2022 and 12.4 million euros for the financial year 2023.

In the case of Palencia there is only one beneficiary entity. This is the Fundación Centro Tecnológico de Cereals de Castilla y León. The CETECE has 28 workers and its main objective is to promote research and development in the agri-food field, and especially in the field of industrial transformations of cereals. This non-profit organization has been developing its work for a year now by a person who is attached to the R+D+i Department.

Thanks to this aid, there are 141 young people with a subsidized contract in Castilla y León developing research in the universities of León, Valladolid or Salamanca or the CENIEH Consortium of Burgos.

FIRST PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

The latest project is the program of First Professional Experience in Public Administrations. It is a program whose main beneficiaries are the public administrations, since they are the ones who receive aid to hire people over 16 years of age and under 30 years of age. In this case, young people are incorporated directly into the practices without the need for a theoretical training course.

Through the first-experience program, positions are preferably filled in tasks related to the ecological transition and the green economy, the digitalization of services, social cohesion – the care of dependency and intervention with vulnerable groups, the rehabilitation of environments and housing – as well as rural local development.

The grants to be awarded for recruitment are intended to finance the labour costs of young workers, including the contribution for all concepts to Social Security. The remuneration of the person hired in an internship may not be less than 60 percent of the salary established in agreement for a worker who holds the same position and, in any case, may not be less than the minimum interprofessional salary in force.

The duration of the contracts will be at least ten months and a maximum of twelve months. The working day is full-time. The funding for the implementation of the actions subject to this call amounts to 112.7 million euros. Of these, 96 million are for the year 2022 and 16.5 million, for the year 2023.

For the selection, the beneficiary entities must use at least one of the following options: The National Employment System, that is, the employment services of each autonomous community to which the unemployed persons will request to contract, at least fifteen days in advance of the expected start of the contracts. Or the Single Job Portal ‘EMPLOYATE’.

In this case there are 133 young people who have joined internship jobs throughout Castilla y León. These are jobs in Paradores de Turismo, subdelegations of Government, Fundación Ciudad de la Energía, Consejo Superior de Deportes and all those bodies related to the General Administration of the State. It is a very wide range and they are distributed throughout the Community.

In the case of the province of Palencia, two young people work in the Government Sub-Delegation, which will soon host another First Experience worker to report on European funds. Likewise, a worker for computer applications will be incorporated into the Social Security offices.

Of the three calls, the First Professional Experience program is the only one that remains open. Specifically until November 17, so any public administration can request the incorporation of young people to develop their first work experience.

All three programs are funded by the Spain Can Plan. In total, there are 374 young people from Castilla y León between the ages of 16 and 29 who have an employment contract through the TandEM, First Experience and Research programs at this time. “I think it is a great opportunity for the young people of our land to participate in these programs. We lend special support to the TandEM program because it is aimed at young people who do not have a specific training that also combines that practical part,” he said.

Finally, Virginia Barcones has reiterated its gratitude to the Fundación Secretariado Gitano and CETECE for taking advantage of these programs that allow us to improve the training of young people and their incorporation into the labor market.