More and more disadvantaged young people are starting work

A summary of the results of the largest project of Trust for Social Achievement foundation in the field of employment – Earning by Learning was carried out in Grand Hotel Sofia on 27/04/2023. In the presence of business representatives, colleagues from non-governmental organizations and youth participants, the project partners shared about joint work, benefits and lessons learned from the last 4 years of work with educational institutions and employers.

69 young people from vulnerable groups joined the labor market and started working. This happened thanks to the established network and activities along the lines of Earning by Learning project, managed by Trust for Social Achievement foundation.

Since 2018, the project has been developed in three more countries – Hungary, Romania and Spain. Its main objective is to support disadvantaged youth up to the age of 29, ensuring that their skills match the needs of private sector employers in Bulgaria. In addition to this, a network of business and educational partners is being created to work towards a more diverse and inclusive work and school environment. In Bulgaria, the project works in Sofia, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Pazardzhik, Varna, Burgas, Sliven and Veliko Tarnovo, contacts have been established with over 170 companies and organizations, nearly 400 professionals from the private sector have been involved in various networking events.

The local coordinators of Trust for a Social Arcgievment in Sofia and Plovdiv, Veronika Kertikova and Denis Asenov, told how the foundation is laid for young people to be competitive in the market, namely through the assimilation of the so-called hard skills. In addition, Radostina Chaprazova, director of Arete Youth Foundation, upgraded with the organization’s experience in the so-called soft skills related to communication and good representation of the youth through their employers. Mariana Kartalska from “Kaufland Bulgaria” shared about the business’s experience with “First steps for professional development” and emphasized the importance of the foundation’s mediating role between the corporate world and young people from vulnerable communities.

In the discussion dedicated to diversity, a number of specialists in leading companies in our country participated with comments and shared experience. Veneta Staneva and Nikol Alexandrova, who are responsible for attracting talent at TELUS International Bulgaria, as well as Radoslava Petkova, Global Program Manager and chairperson of resource groups at NRE, expressed their opinion on the extremely topical topics of attracting and retaining talent in the workplace, without the importance of ethnicity and race and their importance to the success of an organization. During the discussion, the topic of tolerance and attitudes towards social inclusion in our country was also touched upon.

The foundation’s local coordination network, working for career guidance for people from vulnerable groups, motivation, training, mentoring, workplace support and networking events, will continue to operate until July 2023, when the project officially ends.