Pitch

The Blue Jobs proposal aims to take advantage of the vast employment opportunities offered by the maritime sector/ blue economy and use these to improve the employment conditions of people who are currently working in the tourism and hospitality sector with its disadvantageous temporary nature and precariousness that these seasonal sectors entail. The Blue Jobs proposal focuses on the value of existing skills and competences of people in the tourism and hospitality sector and their transferability to existing as well as new emerging occupations in the blue economy. Within the Tourism sector, a majority of people work on short term employment contracts and follow a pattern of intense high season economic activity followed by unemployment in the low season. Addressing this problem, the project will validate their individual skills and competences, limit the negative personal and socio-economic consequences, and improve job satisfaction, mobility and prosperity of vulnerable people working in the tourism sector.

Summary

The objective of the Blue Jobs project is to promote training and knowledge of new occupations related to the blue economy, to facilitate the insertion of people who currently work in precarious sectors such as the tourism sector.

A well-developed plan of 4 phases will ensure individual labour insertion based on existing competences of the individual, the closing of skills gaps and optimized matching with a large variety of jobs.

As a result of the proposed Blue Jobs project, vulnerable people can take advantage of the vast employment opportunities the blue economy provides, and the maritime sector will find suitable employees for its urgent demand for a qualified workforce. 

Idea

The Team proposes a project, in which it develops and provides a series of support services to people who are working or have trained in the tourism sector, including sectors that are closely linked such as leisure, sports, etc., of how to use these skills, build on them and find employment in more secure and regular jobs in the Maritime sector.

In this sense, the team proposes a total of 4 phases in which to work with the target group:

Phase 0Reception and diagnosis: focused on the knowledge of the participants and analysis of their individual key competences (identification of basic and transversal competences, vital balance and work context sessions). The analysis of key competences can be done through the VALITS Assessment Tool which offers a methodology to perform an objective assessment of informal transversal skills through a series of tests that do not reveal to its users in which skills they have been tested.

Phase 1Diagnosis of employability, adaptation and transfer of existing competences and elaboration of the individual labour insertion plan (identification of motivations and interests, evaluation of occupations and elaboration of an individual plan that includes the identified competences, their transferability into sectors of the blue economy and developing a training plan and work practice to facilitate the occupational move).

To optimize the incorporation and transfer of competencies to the blue economy target sector, work will be done through sector specific job cards that will incorporate the following information:

1.)  Job description: detailing the main characteristics of the job through:

  1. a) a general description
  2. b) Job functions and related actions

2.)  Labour market demands: in relation to the competences and the training and labour profile. detailing the necessary skills at the level of:

  1. a) Professional technical skills
  2. b) Basic skills
  3. c) Transversal competences
  4. d) Training and work profile

3.)  Job market offers: in relation to job conditions:

  1. a) Types of contract
  2. b) Working day requirements
  3. c) Daily working schedules
  4. d) Salary
  5. e) Required Mobility

These job cards will identify and optimize matches between the people and the respective occupation in the blue economy.

 Phase 2 – Specialized training: training tailored to complete knowledge related to new occupations. This training will focus on completing the professional profile of the participants and will consist of 3 different types of training:

  1. a) Tailored professional technical training.
  2. b) Basic training: linked to ICT, language skills, etc.
  3. c) Training of transversal and informal competences to ensure a successful insertion process (focused on improving communication, assertiveness, interrelation, organization and planning processes, etc.)

 Phase 3 – Labour insertion: through specific sessions in the blue economy sector, visits and sessions with companies and prospecting and intermediation with the sector through the platform: https://www.bluegeneration.careers that offers information about new employment opportunities, training and internships for free in various sectors of the blue economy.

 Phase 4 – Post-insertion follow-up: this phase will focus on accompanying the participant to the job during the reasonable time that the trial period lasts, to guarantee the consolidation of the job. As well as with the company, adding if necessary extra training to guarantee complete adaptation and insertion into the contracting blue economy company.

Impact

The aforementioned activities will improve the

  1. employability of people,
  2. definition of the jobs and therefore the fit with the candidate,
  3. generation of jobs that generate economic and environmental benefits,
  4. reduction of seasonal unemployment rates,
  5. the quality of life of working people, and
  6. supply of the blue economy with a qualified workforce.

About

The Fundació Intermedia is a non-profit foundation that was born in 2021 as a result of the convergence of various organizations of the third social sector (IRES, SURT and SUARA), with a long history of social action to improve employment, especially of groups and people who are in situations of greater vulnerability.

The Intermedia Foundation is registered in the Registry of Foundations of the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality, under number 08-0427.

Article 3 of the Statutes states that the Foundation was born to promote the placement and labour insertion of people, especially those who are in situations of social and labour vulnerability, with the aim of being a professional tool of quality, solidarity and responsibility, for personal development, improvement of employment and employability of people. The main purpose is concentrated on the following general interest purposes:

– Job placement, intermediation, and relocation to facilitate employment and improve the employability of people, especially those who are in a situation of greater social and work vulnerability.

– Favour improvement processes and professional development, guiding and advising on the professional trajectory and the definition of objectives and personal strategies for professional change and improvement.

– Act as a placement agency offering advisory and support services to companies, organizations and entities in all aspects related to the management of employment and the job, which facilitate the incorporation, relocation, and professional improvement of people, especially of the most vulnerable groups.

Sea Teach is a nautical school, established in Cala d’Or, Santanyí since 1999. Sea Teach is defined as a company with the purpose of social inclusion, having the primary objective of using its maritime expertise for having an impact on society and the environment in all projects that are carried out.

Since 2011, Sea Teach has participated in European projects funded by programs such as Erasmus + and EEA & Norway Grants as a partner or coordinator. Many of these projects aim to help the most vulnerable groups in their search for training or employment. Good examples are the BlueGeneration project that aims to attract and engage young people between the ages of 15 and 29 and convert them to pursue a sustainable career in the blue economy; or the VALITS project that helps less qualified workers to make their soft skills visible through a test and a subsequent certificate.

The team has a long experience in the development of courses and classroom schedules. A good example is the Maritime Literacy course of the Erasmus + program and a new Boat Cleaning course, which has been taught successfully with three groups of disadvantaged young people. This course was designed 100% by Sea Teach and its contents are based on training young people who are neither working nor studying (NEETs) some basic nautical skills.

The two entities work together promoting employment opportunities in the maritime sector in the territory of Mallorca, through training of people in vulnerable situations, information sessions among the young group and as partners in the European Interview Champ project.