| Main partners and parties to the contract | Provincial Government of Lower Austria, Public Employment Service, Federal Social Welfare Office, Economic Chamber, Chamber of Labour, Austrian Trade Union Federation, Federation of Austrian Industries, Gender Mainstreaming Officers, Associations of the Municipal Representatives of the Social Democratic Party of Austria and the Austrian People’s Party |
| Description of the partnership | The Employment Pact Lower Austria was entered into between the Public Employment Service, the Federal Social Welfare Office and the Provincial Government of Lower Austria in 1999. A Statement of Support was signed by the social partners. The partnership contract was extended until 2010. The TEP Platform performs the task of adopting general decisions regarding the strategy, support and definition of the framework. The TEP Steering Group is responsible for taking individual decisions on projects in line with the Pact. A Pact Coordination Unit is in charge of ongoing implementation, studies, evaluation, PR measures and gender mainstreaming. |
| Core function of the Pact | The core function of the Pact is to develop and to coordinate common labour market policy objectives, to help the partners identify with the Pact and its objectives as well as to take advantage of synergies through work within the Pact. |
| Contractual period | January 2007 – December 2010 |
| Objectives | The Pact’s main objectives in terms of labour market policy are to create 20,000 additional jobs in Lower Austria and to reduce the unemployment rate of women from 7.6% (forecast) to 7% and that of men from 8.7% (forecast) to 7.8% until the end of 2010. The regional orientation of the measures, equality of women and men in the labour market and the combat against youth unemployment are other important objectives. |
| Range of measures and target groups | The Pact implements non-profit employment projects, socio-economic enterprises, counselling and support institutions, qualification measures, labour foundations and childcare projects. It initiates measures combining structural policy with labour market policy goals. Target groups are in particular women, older people, young people, long-term unemployed persons, people with special needs, persons with inadequate qualifications as well as social assistance recipients. |
| Activities and results 2008 | In 2008 coordinated working groups dealt with various themes, i.e. counselling institutions, assisted living projects, intercultural work, youth, long-term/nursing care and “social supermarkets”. Innovative project concepts for the persons furthest away from the labour market were prepared in cooperation with regional players, and model projects were kicked off. In addition, a new web portal was set up at www.noetep.at. It allows the players of the Pact Lower Austria to communicate interactively and is connected to the Pact’s database of measures. |
| Priorities for action 2009 | The priorities for the year 2009 include needs-based measures in the area of counselling and assisted living projects, the establishment of additional “social supermarkets”, work on issues related to the labour market and education, the combat against youth unemployment and further development of the Gänserndorf Regional Platform. Measures targeting the persons furthest away from the labour market are continued in 2009 (for more details see information on the measures of the Pact, Priority 3b on the back). |
| Financing and funding | The set of measures described above is coordinated, adjusted and realised in the framework of the Employment Pact with a Pact budget totalling about EUR 166,000,000 (including EUR 103,040,000 from the Public Employment Service, EUR 27,450,000 from the Provincial Government of Lower Austria, EUR 35,320,000 from the Federal Social Welfare Office). Additional funding is made available from the budget of the ESF / Operational Programme “Employment” for Austria 2007-2013, Priority 3b and under the Pact’s co-financing programme for measures to improve the integration of the persons furthest away from the labour market. Pact coordination is funded under ESF / Operational Programme “Employment” for Austria 2007-2013, Priority 5. |
| Website | http://www.noetep.at |
| Pact coordination | Verein Jugend und Arbeit (Youth and Work Association) Michaela Vorlaufer, Tel.: +43 / 2742 / 9005-13745, m.vorlaufer@jugend-und-arbeit.at Elisabeth Hofer, Tel.: +43 / 2742 / 9005-16427, e.hofer@jugend-und-arbeit.at |
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TEP Lower Austria 2009 |