The challenges of an increasingly tough labour market

The partnership between the Endesa Foundation and Caritas began in 2011 with a training programme aimed at improving the employment prospects of people in a situation of social exclusion. Since then, 957 people have undergone training and 357 have found jobs. With the aim of improving the employability of this group, in 2023 the training programmes have been redesigned to contain content related to wind and photovoltaic energy and are being extended to the areas of Spain where Endesa has renewable energy generation plants.

Caritas helps people improve their skills so that they can compete in the employment market on an equal footing. The people who take part in our Employment Programmes are experiencing a plethora of difficulties. They are in a disadvantaged situation from the outset and must deal with an increasingly tough employment market. Their life stories vary greatly but there is a majority of women over the age of 45 years old and with basic schooling. They have barely any digital skills, with some having learning difficulties, little work experience, family issues, severe socioeconomic deficiencies, language difficulties, and low self-esteem.

Work plays a pivotal role in our society: it is the main way of earning income and therefore the key to accessing economic stability, social protection and housing. It protects the family structure and at the social level it is a crucial tool for integration.

The lack of training and more specifically the lack of professional qualification is a factor closely linked to the lesser likelihood of accessing the labour market and accessing it in conditions of greater precariousness, which makes it a predictor of situations of poverty and exclusion.

In many cases, improving their level of employability inevitably involves training, either to address needs that hinder access to the employment market or to have new opportunities or improve employment conditions in another sector.

The training initiatives, in addition to the theoretical and practical content of the specific position, address transversal aspects such as basic skills, equality, environmental sustainability, occupational safety, digital literacy and employment rights.

Another key aspect is the possibility of carrying out work placements in companies, with the aim of being able to put into practice what has been learnt in a real work environment. This also directly affects the likelihood of getting a job at the end of the training, since in many cases it is the entry route for the company to get to know the person, see how they work and provide the opportunity that would not have been offered if it had only seen the candidate's CV.

It is also important to highlight the sense of belonging of the group of students, the close and critical support of the professionals who supervise the training process and the involvement of the teaching staff. The people who experience these training processes emphasise not only the technical learning, but the improvement in their self-esteem, the feeling that they have worth, that they are able, in short, to regain the appetite to live a better life.

For Caritas it would be impossible to do this work alone. We need the collaboration of companies to identify accessible jobs for the people we work with, jointly design training itineraries, arrange placements for trainees, use our employment intermediation services for the management of job offers, support the financing of our programmes ... This is why we are grateful for the support of the Endesa Foundation, which makes it possible for many people to improve their training and, as a result, their prospects of entering the employment market.