Brief description of the main purposes and contents

The Vocational Training Offices (GIP) are part of the IEFP (Institute for Employment and Professional Training) and are promoted by public and private non-profit organizations accredited by the IEFP, to provide support to unemployed young people and adults in their pathway of insertion or reinsertion into the labor market in close cooperation with the local units of the IEFP, I. P.

Reasons why the project / program is considered a “good practice”

I consider this to be an example of good practice because this service reinforces the actions of the Public Employment Service in terms of widening the available responses and their territorial coverage, making them closer and more accessible to the unemployed, thus enhancing a faster and more sustained insertion of the unemployed in the labor market. These Professional Insertion Offices, being part of entities that work with the population in various areas, particularly in the field of local development, maximize synergies in the fight against unemployment.

Managing authority / organisation

Instituto de Emprego e Formação Profissional (IEFP, IP)- Ministry of Solidarity, Employment and Social Security

Main target group

Unemployed youth and adults (at local level).

Source of funding

Public sources (national, regional,…)

Stakeholders involved 

The stakeholders involved are: unemployed youth and adults; employers/companies; training entities; and the potential/possible public or private non-profit entities, promoters of the GIP (Local Authorities; Private Social Solidarity Institutions; Associations relevant in local dynamization and development; Associations for the integration of immigrants and ethnic minorities; Trade Unions and business associations)

Contribution of the practice in improving / promoting the social inclusion of the beneficiaries

By promoting the access to the labour market of unemployed people.

Elements of the project / program that could be easily transferred to other contexts

The decentralization of employment support services through the creation of Employment Service Support Offices.

Other potential target groups to which the project / program could be extended

Migrants, refugees.

Practical evaluation carried out

Yes, each GIP is evaluated periodically. According to Article 14(1) of Ordinance No. 140/2015, “The functioning of the GIPs and the respective level of contractual execution is regularly evaluated by IEFP, I. P., with a view to identifying anomalous situations and respective intervention proposals.”

Results and measures taken following evaluation

According to numbers 2 and 3 of Portaria 140/2015, “As a result of the monitoring process carried out, the support granted may be reduced at any time during the validity of the contract if it is verified that the execution is lower than contracted” and “Independently of the intermediate evaluations with the purpose of monitoring the functioning of the network, IEFP, I. P., carries out, at the end of the operating authorization period, the evaluation of the network.”; respectively.

Participation data 

Ordinance No. 140/2015, regulating the operation of the Vocational Integration Offices, published on 05/20/2015, took effect the day after its publication.

Description of the methods of implementation and any recommendations

The Professional Insertion Offices are employment support structures that, in close cooperation with the employment services (IEFP), support their action in the development of activities that contribute to the professional insertion or reinsertion of the unemployed. The IEFP signs a contract of objectives with the promoting entity which includes the activities to be developed by the GIP and the quantitative objectives to be reached. It aims to support the unemployed in defining or developing their pathway to integration or reinsertion in the labor market. The target audience is unemployed people, young people or adults, who need support in solving their problems of professional insertion or reinsertion. The promoting entities may be public or private non-profit entities such as: local authorities; private social solidarity institutions; relevant associations in local development; associations for the integration of immigrants and ethnic minorities and trade unions and business associations. GIP provides various supports, namely: for the unemployed, who benefit from a wide range of activities that GIP can develop professional information for unemployed youth and adults; support for active job search; personalized accompaniment of the unemployed in the professional insertion or reinsertion phase; referral to qualification offers; dissemination of job offers and placement of the unemployed in available and suitable job offers; dissemination of community programs that promote mobility in employment and vocational training in the European space; motivation and support for participation in temporary occupations or voluntary activities that facilitate insertion in the labor market; for the promoting entities with technical support (such as: training of the animator; provision of technical tools, in various media, to support the development of contracted activities; information tools for dissemination to the unemployed; provision of access to information system(s), to support the functions of the animator and monitoring of the activity of the GIP) and financial support.

Project / program website or other online reference resources

LINK