This measure has proven to be an effective way of addressing youth unemployment, as it provides not only counselling for young jobseekers but also a comprehensive, fast-track methodology to improve employability skills by providing bespoke integration activities and facilitating internships in well-known enterprises in the region. This means that the measure has been successful at finding positive outcomes for the participants.

The Activation Agency is directly linked to the EU goal of reducing youth unemployment and increasing the youth employment rate in line with the wider EU target of achieving a 75% employment rate for the working-age population (20-64 years). The Agency is also linked to the EU goal on the establishment of Youth Guarantee schemes in that it was one of the projects that benefited from the Preparatory Action on the Youth Guarantee (VP/2012/12); an action co-funded by the European Commission, at the initiative of the European Parliament, to design and test innovative approaches to the Youth Guarantee.

Youth unemployment has been an escalating problem in Spain since the onset of the economic crisis, although the problem has been embedded in the system already for a long time. Youth unemployment peaked at around 55% in 2013, second in the EU only to Greece, albeit this rate has started to come down since (48% in 2015).

Youth unemployment is also high in the region of Asturias where Gijón is the largest city and municipality. In May 2012, when the Agency was first set up, the unemployment rate in Asturias among under 24 year olds was 44%, which was nearly twice as high as the average rate in the European Union as a whole.

This programme offers different activities to help with the activation of young jobseekers and to improve their chances of finding work. The main activities include individual mentoring and coaching (to help with the development of an individual employment plan), personal ‘branding’, language courses, social networking events and international mobility opportunities.

The programme also facilitates work placements, apprenticeships and internships in well-known companies in the region in order to give the participants an experience in the labour market and equip them with both transferable and vocational skills. This has been ensured through a proactive approach to work with local employers. The delivery team has developed an ‘employer outreach’ approach so as to engage right employers as placement providers. The team identifies companies of which activities match the interests of the participants and invites them to get involved. Those that do, obtain a hallmark of “enterprises committed to young people’ as a recognition of their collaboration.

The programme also provides employment advice in a proactive manner. This includes advising young people who are still attending secondary education about the current situation in the local labour market.

The programme was co-financed by the EC in its pilot year but has since been funded through its own resources.

Both output and outcome data is available for the first two years (2014-2015). In terms of outputs:

• The Youth Activation Agency has involved 300 NEETs aged 16-30 years during the first two years, of which 297 got involved in the development of their own personal employment plan. The number of participants doubled from the pilot year to the second year of implementation (93 in 2014 and 204 in 2015). 
• The Agency has signed 147 co-operation agreements with local companies/institutions on the provision of work placements / internships for the participants. Again, the number of such agreements has doubled in the first two years, from 46 to 101.
• A total of 182 participants (NEETs) have taken part in internships, work placements, apprenticeships and training courses (59 in 2014 and 123 in 2015).

In terms of outcomes, the Agency has supported 120 NEETs into employment, making up 40% of all (297) participants. The labour market integration rate has improved from 35% in 2014 to 43% in 2015; 33 out of 93 NEETs found a job in 2014 and 87 out of 204 NEETs in 2015.