This regionally oriented jobs program for people over 50 is a German Ministry for Labor and Social Welfare initiative whose aim is to improve the employment prospects of the long-term unemployed who are 50 years of age and older. The program will seek ways to leverage untapped potential at the economic and state level, as well as to make more productive use of existing concepts and structures at the regional level. Toward this end, 62 regions and a total of 93 joint ventures and communities are implementing innovative models aimed at integrating older members of the population into the labor market.
In Schweinfurt, the regional employment program will pursue the goals of the federal program under the aegis of Schweinfurt’s Office of Employment and Economic Opportunity. The project will receive expert advice and evaluation from Germany’s job training and vocational education research institute f-bb.
During the project’s two year implementation phase, the jobs program will receive expert advice and guidance aimed at providing formative evaluation. Improvement measures and modifications will be elaborated dialogically, insofar as changes are deemed to be necessary.
The evaluation will analyze, and promote efficacy, goal orientation, and sustainability for the models that are elaborated and implemented.
Programs and methods that are particularly successful at the local level will be documented and publicized, and will hopefully form a basis for the elaboration of nationwide best practice strategies and solutions.
