Roundup: EU program for inactive young people draws mixed reactions in Italy

The implementation of a program funded by the European Union (EU) which aimed at bringing inactive Italian young people close to the labor system has sparked mixed reactions in the country.

Young people are the age group most affected by the employment crisis in Italy. The inactive ones refer to those who do not have jobs, neither study nor actively look for work.

Since the end of 2014, the "Youth Guarantee" program has offered inactive people aged between 15 and 29 opportunities of employment, continued education, apprenticeship or traineeship.

However, among over 1 million people enrolled in the program, only slightly more than 30,000 have obtained labor contracts. The slice of success was too small, according to la Stampa daily which dedicated an analysis on this.

Several people who have joined the program told Xinhua that they were let down.

"I enrolled in the program almost a year ago," said a girl who lives near Bari, a city in southern Italy.

The girl who asked to be anonymous, said the only offer for her was an unsuccessful interview with a company. She got"a thousand excuses that the funds had been blocked," thus the company said it was not able to pay her the expected 450 euros per month.

"Then there were no other companies available ... I am just angry, because all what I am looking for is a normal job as a secretary and I cannot believe that the program has been unable to find me one in a year's time," she said.

Others complained that the apprenticeship offered by the program turned into underpaid work.

"I am 20 and the Youth Guarantee was my first work experience," said Federica Signorello, also from southern Italy.

"Actually I liked the company where I worked, but my six-month period ended two months ago and I still have four months unpaid. They say there are no funds for the moment, but I did work and I needed those money. I would never do it again," she told Xinhua.

"My son worked for six months and has not seen a euro yet," said Savino Citriniti, a father and former public official.

Bruno Busacca, technical secretariat of the labor minister, however, called on people not to see the program as a failure.

"First of all, the aim of Youth Guarantee is not an immediate job offer but an increase of employability, which means bringing young people close to the labor market, thus making them more suitable," he explained to Xinhua.

For example, he said the reason why Youth Guarantee has strongly invested on apprenticeship is that apprenticeship in previous years has proved to be a valid instrument for facilitating the access to work.

"Statistics say that more than 50 percent of those who have done an apprenticeship in 2013 and 2014 - though not through this program - have found a job within a year," he noted.

Moreover, Busacca said, "1 million people enrolled in Youth Guarantee is a huge number in Italy which was not used to active labor policies and is making big progress as also acknowledged by the EU."

Youth Guarantee will end in 2018, but Italy is asking for refinancing the program, Busacca added.

"If you look at the resources, an overall 1.5 billion euros is not such a big sum for so many participants. In fact, participation has gone beyond our expectations, and this is very positive despite some weak points, which is common in big projects," he told Xinhua. (1 euro = 1.13 U.S. dollars) Endit