€1.4 billion reserved for helping unemployed find new work

The government reserved 1.4 billion euros to help people without work find a new job. The intention is to create one place where job seekers can find all the help they need, as much as that is possible, Minister Wouter Koolmees of Social Affairs and Employment wrote in a letter to parliament, NOS reports.

Last week, a majority in parliament supported a motion by PvdA leader Lodewijk Asscher to add job guarantee for employees as a condition for companies to get coronavirus support from the government. If an employee is dismissed, the employer is responsible for helping that employee find new work elsewhere.

The government shares Asscher's wish to guarantee work, Koolmees said in his letter. With large-scale reorganizations, employers and trade unions should make agreements about guiding laid-off employees to new work. "But also if someone reports to the UWV for unemployment benefits or applies for social assistance at the municipality: at first contact it must be immediately determined what someone needs to quickly return to work," the Minister said.

The government is pushing 683 million euros into support and guidance towards new work. That money will go towards regional mobility teams that will help job seekers throughout the process to finding a new job, among other things. Another almost 200 million euros will be made available for training and retraining, if the job seeker needs it. 

This crisis will push more people into problematic debts, Koolmees expects. The government is therefore also making nearly 150 million euros available to municipalities to help people with struggling with debts and poverty.