Deputy PM: €150 million plan to coach, train unemployed

The government is making another 150 million euros available in the fight against unemployment. This money will pay for more personal guidance for job seekers, "work brigades" that will advise people about work available in their regions and extra funds for retraining. Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, Lodewijk Asscher informed the Tweede Kamer, lower house of parliament, about this extra effort in fighting unemployment in a letter on Wednesday. The 150 million euros for these measures comes from money left over in other plans. Asscher hopes that these measures will not only keep people out of long-term unemployment, but also prevent unemployment in the first place. Benefits agency UWV will assess which job seekers are at risk of long-term unemployment and what they need to get started in finding a new job. These measures are therefore particularly aimed at older people, people with a lower education and people who have been doing the same job for a long time. The UWV will make so-called 'training vouchers" available for those at risk of long-term unemployment. They can use these vouchers to start studying for more promising professions, which the work brigades will advise them on. They will also receive the so-called bridge unemployment benefit while they are retraining for their new job. The personal guidance comes in addition to the digital guidance the UWV already offers.