Employer interest in providing in-company training (work placements) for vocational education (VET) learners has increased from 33% in 2014 to 39% in 2017, according to an Employers’ Confederation of Latvia (LDDK) survey.
The share of interested employers who so far have not been offering in-company training has increased even more rapidly: from 13% to 20%. The surveys were conducted within the Erasmus+ strategic partnership project VET for employment (2014-17) that involved twelve partners from Latvia, Lithuania, Austria and Germany.
The project has also developed tools providing information about in-company training. Virtual practice office provides in-company training guidelines for employers. The largest career portal in Latvia has been updated by the project team and offers networking and evaluation e-tools for employers, young people and VET schools. Since 2014, the number of employers and apprentices using the portal has increased significantly; so has the number of in-company training offers. Evaluation has also shown an increase in perceptions of benefits among VET learners using the portal. More apprentices believe that in-company training has been helpful in acquiring a profession (increase from 76% to 79%) and in finding the desired job (74% to 89%). More than a quarter of young people got a job in the company where they were trained.
