The Flemish Employment and Vocational Training Agency, VDAB, and the city of Antwerp have jointly developed a pilot project called ‘Mijn weg naar werk’ that tracks the actions taken by jobseekers.
The digital tool allows VDAB counsellors to access information previously provided by jobseekers to other services, such as the Flemish public social welfare centre, OCMW, or the Atlas integration service.
The pilot project is in line with Flanders’ ambition and VDAB’s mission to actively assist not only unemployed individuals, but also those on social assistance, sick leave, or without any benefits, to find work.
“VDAB and its partners can determine the best next steps by sharing information about the jobseeker’s journey,” says Labour Minister Jo Brouns.
“I’m pleased to see that the public services for employment, social assistance, and integration in Antwerp are creating a tool that facilitates smooth collaboration, ensuring a customer-friendly government,” Brouns added.
The aim is to assist a new target group that often interacts with services like OCMW or, in Antwerp, Atlas. Some of the targeted beneficiaries may have already taken steps to find jobs through these services.
The new tool enables data sharing between these services and VDAB, while also allowing jobseekers to access their own information. “This helps us build on each other’s assessments and avoids making people repeat their stories,” says VDAB CEO Wim Adriaens.
The application reveals the paths jobseekers have followed with different organisations, showing what works and what does not.
The pilot project, involving several dozen jobseekers, runs until the end of the year and will then be evaluated.
The next Flemish government will decide whether to implement it in the rest of Flanders.
