ESF-SI-2024-LTU-01 -0042 

The project aims to facilitate the transition of long-term unemployed women into the job market in Spain, Italy and Cyprus. Women dedicated to caregiving face significant challenges when returning to the job market, including gaps in their professional experience, outdated skills, and a lack of recognition for the valuable expertise developed while caring for their families. Fundación Santa María la Real has been developing successful employment initiatives since 2013. The project aims to scale up a combination of these methodologies to facilitate the transition of long-term unemployed women into the labour market by transferring their life experiences into the workplace. It will be achieved through social experimentation, testing this approach at the international level. By focusing on women with prior experience in informal caregiving roles, including single parents, older women, and younger women, the project seeks to address their specific needs and bridge the gap between their existing skills and labour market demands, improving their economic independence and social inclusion. The project also aims to research and map women’s long-term unemployment, identifying key challenges and opportunities to help provide an individualised, accessible, and inclusive approach through personalised training and guidance. Additionally, the project seeks to encourage cooperation with local employment stakeholders, fostering partnerships between local employers and communities to create job opportunities across various sectors. It will also build the capacity of social inclusion professionals and stakeholders, contributing sustainable solutions for reducing long-term unemployment and fostering a more inclusive labour market. Through active involvement, these stakeholders will help disseminate, scale up, and share innovative methodologies across regions, ensuring broader impact and sustainability beyond the project’s lifecycle.

Expected results:

• Support at least 100 long-term unemployed women through participation in transversal training programmes, enhancing their employability and job-readiness skills. 
• Provide targeted support and job-matching services to 50 selected women (20 in Italy, 20 in Cyprus, and 10 in Spain), enabling their transition into employment in high-demand sectors. 
• Ensure up to 12 months of employment for 50 women across Spain, Italy, and Cyprus, contributing to workforce stability and social inclusion. 
• Increase participants’ competence levels by at least 60% and achieve a 70% satisfaction rate among participants and employers. 
• Strengthen the capacity of participating organisations by training 6 professionals through Train-the-Trainers programmes and 150 through a MOOC, and establishing at least 15 cooperation agreements with public and private stakeholders. 
• Develop and validate a scalable and replicable employment model for tackling long-term unemployment among women, adaptable to other regions and contexts. 

Funding: 1 524 200,00 Eur

Social innovation scale-up

The proven Spanish methodologies “Entrena Empleo,” “Empleando el Cuidado,” “PEMCYL,” and “Lanzaderas” will be adapted, combined, and scaled up into a new co-created international model across Spain, Italy, and Cyprus.