Efforts to strengthen cooperation between the Public Employment Service (DYPA) and municipalities to create jobs, develop skills and make use of its infrastructure were outlined by the service’s Director Gianna Chormova at the annual conference of the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece (KEDE), held in Kalamata from 5 to 7 November.
The Director spoke of her experience in local government, where she served from 2015 to 2019, saying she felt “doubly pleased” to be among mayors again.
She noted that DYPA has expanded its role beyond paying unemployment benefits, supporting jobseekers as well as businesses in need of skilled staff.
According to the figures she presented, since 2019 more than 300,000 people have found work through DYPA programmes, while more than 33,000 have set up their own businesses with its support.
She also referred to the employment benefit, which allows unemployed people receiving benefits who are hired into full-time jobs to continue, subject to the applicable conditions, receiving 50% of their benefit for the remainder of the benefit period.
The Director outlined the main areas of cooperation with municipalities. DYPA has 28 nurseries of its own, 25 of which already hold fire safety certificates.
Renovations are focused on increasing the number of places for infants.
Meanwhile, courses at the 50 apprenticeship schools are tailored to local labour market needs, including industrial automation in Grevena and the hotel sector in Karpenisi.
The Director also referred to the allocation of premises to municipalities in former Workers’ Housing settlements, of which there are more than 600, as well as the operation of 118 Employment Promotion Centres (KPA2) and 23 partnerships on skills development programmes.
On DYPA’s more than 5,000 buildings, she called for closer cooperation with municipalities on their maintenance, noting that structural assessments had been completed with funding from the Recovery Fund.
She highlighted plans for the first programme to systematically subsidise remote working in 38 small mountainous municipalities, where 8,500 people are registered as unemployed and local employment opportunities are limited.
She also said that a new programme offering 1,000 jobs for people with disabilities in local authorities was expected in the coming days. The Minister of Labour and Social Security, Niki Kerameus, has already signed the joint ministerial decision.
On the employment programme for unemployed people aged 55 and over, the Director said that 42,000 people had found work, more than 60% of them in local authorities, compared with 1,000 up to 2020.
In the latest round, 5,500 of the 8,000 positions were allocated to municipalities, in line with a decision by KEDE.
She acknowledged that municipalities needed more positions, clarifying that the programme is funded exclusively from national resources, with DYPA covering 75% of the cost and municipalities the remaining 25%.
As she explained, DYPA is also concerned with the duration of employment after the subsidy ends.
That is why, wherever possible, it aims to expand opportunities in the private sector, giving participants prospects for career development and long-term employment.
In closing, the Director stressed that DYPA was available to municipalities to discuss the needs and development plans of each area and contribute to the support of local communities through its programmes, infrastructure and tools.