Interview with Eva Expòsito, Head of Youth Care and Support Services (SOC)

1. What is your assessment of the current situation of young people regarding access to employment? One of the issues that needs to be mentioned, and probably not only concerning young people, is the lack of technical profiles currently available in the labor market. We are a country with many university graduates, but in reality, only around 30% of job offers require this profile. In contrast, for Vocational Training (VT), this figure rises to around 64%. We need to promote VT, enhance its prestige, and offer programs that adapt to the needs of the labor market, providing quality jobs and real opportunities for young people. A very good option, for example, is dual training programs, which combine education with a work placement in a company. On the other hand, the high percentage of early school leaving, which stands at around 15% in Catalonia, must also be considered. In this regard, efforts must be made to offer flexible and appropriate programs that provide tailored pathways for young people, to encourage their return to the educational system or a more successful entry into the labor market. In any case, to achieve this, I believe it is very important to have a guidance figure who can support these individuals. This way, they can make more informed decisions regarding their educational and professional future.

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2. How is the dual occupational vocational training program functioning? How does the new VT regulation affect it? What changes are foreseen for the next call for applications? The Dual FPO program has been very well received by entities and companies. In fact, most of the training contracts in alternation that have been made in Catalonia are contracts carried out within the framework of this call. Furthermore, according to the program’s evaluation results, we can state that 92.6% of participants who did not have an employment contract three months prior have secured at least one contract. 94% of participants who had or had had a contract three months prior also showed positive results. Nevertheless, we are currently at a point of change after four years of the program, and work is underway to develop a program that better adapts to the needs of individuals and companies. The aim is to consolidate a dual training program that becomes a driving force for the FPCAT system and the labor market in Catalonia, linked to training contracts in alternation. We truly believe that the Dual FPO program should be a tool available to entities and companies to facilitate the construction of dual models from a strategic vision, seeking positive results and impacts, rather than merely a call for applications offering specific opportunities to benefit from subsidies for hiring and training.

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3. What is your assessment of the new opportunity centers for young people? What support do they receive from the SOC? At SOC, we firmly believe in the New Opportunities model. This program was designed by SOC in collaboration with entities and experts in the field, to provide an adequate response to young people aged 16 to 24 with a profile of early school leaving. Just a few days ago, we celebrated the program’s 10th anniversary. This period has served to grow the program, demonstrate its success, and highlight the need to work towards a more stable model of new opportunities, in coordination with the Department of Education. We are currently at this point. Regarding the support that new opportunity centers receive from SOC, we can say that, beyond funding, it is one of the programs where networking has been central from the beginning: in the program’s design, in its improvement during implementation, and in collaborative work to address new challenges and needs of young people.

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4. What role does self-employment play in public policies supporting youth employment? What impact does the aid program to promote youth self-employment have? Within the framework of youth employment policies, efforts are made to address the entire group of young people in the territory, from those without formal education to university graduates who face difficulties entering the labor market. Therefore, self-employment is an aspect that is considered and must be promoted to support individuals who seek to create a company and work for themselves.

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5. Our motto is “I am what I want to be.” Are you? I believe that right now I could say yes, I am what I want to be. However, if you had asked me a few years ago where I wanted to be now, it would not have occurred to me that I would be here doing this job. I studied Translation and Interpreting, and once I finished my degree, I started working. It has been during this journey that I have discovered jobs I would not have imagined and training I did not know existed. Ultimately, experience opens up new possibilities. The opportunity for lifelong learning and to reorient one’s professional career can eventually lead you to a place you wouldn’t have initially thought of.