In recent years, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s labour market has made notable progress. However, many people still encounter significant obstacles that hinder their equal participation. This is particularly true for people in long-term unemployment, those who think that in any case there would be no suitable jobs available for them on the labour market (discouraged individuals), and people, disproportionally women, who have family and care responsibilities.
The assessments conducted by public employment services and the ILO in the framework of the EU- and Sweden-funded project, reveal a critical gap: the lack of developed motivational support within the employment services portfolio. Additionally, there is a shortage of specialized non-institutional service providers in this area.
To address this gap, the EU4Employment project implemented by the ILO organized the conference “Motivational support: the missing link in employment services” . The event brought together over 60 participants, including representatives of labour market institutions, project implementers, and psychologists’ associations.
Valli Corbanese, an ILO senior expert on employment policies and public employment services, discussed the concept of motivational support, its role within public employment services, and shared insights from EU countries. Corbanese emphasized the need for employment institutions to build capacities to provide quality motivational support services.
An expert exchange session featured practices and lessons from North Macedonia, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Representatives from Bosnia and Herzegovina highlighted their efforts aimed at the provision of motivation support through group counselling, while noting the need for more resources to offer individual motivational support.
Participants examined different approaches, techniques, and tools used by the public employment services of France and Sweden. Continuous training for counsellors and the role of work psychologists were highlighted as crucial for supporting users facing motivational barriers.
The conference reiterated the importance of investing in effective and efficient individual motivational support services in order to bring people with varying labour market attachment closer to the labour market and support their economic and social inclusion. This is important both for the self-fulfilment of individuals and to support employers identifying workers at a time when labour shortages are the main obstacle to business growth.
