Labour Minister Mirando Mrsic on Tuesday presented a set of measures whereby Croatia will join in the implementation of the European Youth Guarantee, saying a special department for that purpose would be set up at the Croatian Employment Service.
As many as 19.3 per cent in the 15-24 age group and 33.61% in the 25-29 age group are unemployed, the minister said, adding that 30,090 Croatians had used the active employment policy measures so far, half of them young people.
The government expects to employ 8,800 young people through employment stimulation measures this year, which will cost about EUR 28 million, Mrsic said.
Twenty thousand people should be employed in 2014, for which about EUR 65 million will be earmarked, 25,000 in 2015 at the cost of about EUR 81 million and 30,000 in 2016 at the cost of EUR 97 million.
Part of the money will come from the European Youth Guarantee, which co-finances the employment of people under 24, while the employment of those in the 25-29 age group will be financed from the national budget or the European Social Fund, said the minister.
Employment measures as part of the European Youth Guarantee will be implemented for a period of six to 12 months. The government will use them to co-finance salaries and transport for young people employed in jobs important for society.
The funds will also be used to co-finance the salaries of young people in the real sector, while vouchers will be retained for young people and long term unemployed based on which employers will not have to pay their benefits in the first two years of employment.
In order to increase young workers' mobility, the government will co-finance transport costs up to HRK 1,000.
Social Policy and Youth Minister Milanka Opacic said steps forward had been made in the employment of young people in the past two years, with 4.8 per cent more employed on the year in 2012 and 10 per cent more in the first five months of this year.
