SPAIN: Youth choose their path to employment
Two Salesian projects work collaboratively to house and train youth in hospitality management
SPAIN
(MissionNewswire) A hotel workshop is providing youth an opportunity to train for employment in Spain. The project is part of a collaborative effort between Salesian Social Platform Ángel Tomás Solidarity Initiative Foundation (FISAT) and Don Bosco Day Center of the Salesian St. Antonio Abate. The two organizations also operate the Apartments for Emancipation – Magone, where many of the youth who take the hotel training course live.
Carlos, an educator at the Don Bosco Day Center, said, “Meeting these young people allows us to know their realities, not only to evaluate their employability, but also at what point in their life path they are.”
Omar, a student, said, “When I arrived in the emancipation apartment, I didn’t know which path to take. But it is the educators who have come to meet me with an appointment at the day center.” Ángela, who works at the apartments, noted, “For us, operators of the Apartments for Emancipation, the collaboration with the hotel workshop means a real job placement for many of them.”
In the Apartments for Emancipation, youth are able to pick a path toward training and improving their employability. For those who consider the hotel and restaurant sector as an option for the future, the Don Bosco Day Center provides a socio-work placement itinerary as a cook assistant and waiter, which then allows the youth to gain professional skills and training in the field. The training course also includes tutorials, job orientation and development of social skills.
Salesian missionaries have been working for many years to provide educational and workforce development opportunities for poor youth and women in Spain through residential, technical and vocational training programs. Although teachers are available to start providing distance learning again in the event of a new lockdown, the importance of face-to-face education is emphasized in Salesian schools.
Close to 37 percent of young Spanish workers under the age of 25 are unemployed and a growing number of them can’t afford to buy enough food to live. Poor youth with few employable skills struggle the most to find and retain stable employment. Women in Spain face inequality in the workforce. They earn up to 14 percent less than men and represent only 34.5 percent of those listed as the highest earners in Spain.
###
Sources:
ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)
ANS – Spain – When the road to autonomy passes through a hotel workshop
Salesian Missions – Spain
World Bank – Spain
