Firms can train a made to measure labour force

In order to encourage the employment of qualified, specialist workers for specific roles, there are labour contracts which include training or professional requalification elements. These apprenticeship and introduction contracts make it possible to employ young or unemployed workers by flexibly planning the necessary opportunities for training and updating of skills.

Apprenticeship contracts have mixed content (labour and training) which can last for up to three years, basically until a professional qualification has been obtained. With regard to the actual training, it also allows the firm to benefit from economic incentives. A specific type of apprenticeship, oriented towards achieving qualifications through on the job training, is available to young people under the age of 29 and can last from two to six years. Students may obtain summer placement contracts for three months.

The objective of the introduction contract is the adaptation of workers´ professional skills to the concrete needs of the firm. It is available to young people between 18 and 29 years of age, long term unemployed workers up to 32 years old, unemployed workers over the age of 45, those who have not worked for more than two years, women living in the most economically disadvantaged areas and the disabled. Introduction contracts last from nine to eighteen months. In order to stipulate this kind of contract, an individual introduction project must be defined with the worker´s consent.