Rhineland-Palatinate expands youth employment agencies to combat youth unemployment

Expansion of youth employment agencies

In Mainz, Ulrike Mohrs, the new head of the Regional Directorate Rhineland-Palatinate/Saarland of the Federal Employment Agency, and Sabine Bätzing-Lichtenthäler (SPD), the new Labor, Social and Youth Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate, announced plans to expand the network of Jugendberufsagenturen (youth employment agencies) across the state. Both officials are new in their respective positions. The announcement came in a conversation with the Deutsche Presse-Agentur. The agencies bring together the employment agency, job center, and child and youth welfare services under one roof, aiming to improve young people's integration into vocational training and the labor market and to reduce the number of youth without occupational qualifications. The first such agency in Rhineland-Palatinate was founded in Mainz in 2007 and was also the first of its kind in Germany. According to the state's own figures, it currently funds 11 agencies, and both officials want to see that number grow.

Reaching young people in difficult circumstances

The agencies are considered particularly helpful for young adults in precarious social situations, including those dealing with family violence, debt, drug problems, or homelessness. The short pathways between services under one roof are seen by experts as a key advantage, eliminating the need for young people to navigate multiple institutions separately. Mohrs, who previously served as mayor of Koblenz with responsibility for youth and social affairs, emphasized the importance of step-by-step guidance through the career choice process.

I am an absolute advocate of the youth employment agency, because if young people have to run from Pontius to Pilate, we will lose them at some point.

It is important that young people are truly accompanied in the career choice process and that you go step by step with them so that they can then take the right path.

Mohrs added that some young people need more steps while others move through the process quickly and directly. No statistics are available on how many young people have been placed through the agencies.

Focus on rural areas

Bätzing-Lichtenthäler stressed that many young people in the state are not yet sufficiently oriented professionally or face particular personal challenges, which often means they do not find a training place directly. She wants the agencies promoted especially in rural areas. The special feature for rural areas, she said, is the proactive approach, where staff go directly into the field and accompany young people on site. Funding for the agencies can also draw on the European Social Fund Plus. The minister said the state wants more agencies beyond the current 11, with a particular focus on rural regions.

Here the youth employment agencies should be promoted, especially in rural areas, because they provide coordinated support from a single source.

Fewer training places reported

Bätzing-Lichtenthäler also appealed to businesses to create more training places. Currently, about 7% fewer training places have been reported compared to the same time last year. She said this can partly be understood given the economic situation, but stressed that skilled workers are needed and do not simply appear on their own. The minister said she will also advocate for helping people gain a foothold professionally, whether in vocational training or in the labor market.