130,000 sign up for Youth Guarantee job program

14% of applicants have already been called up for jobs

(ANSA) - Rome, July 18 - Some 130,000 Italian youths have signed up for the EU Youth Guarantee program since its Italian launch in May, Italy's labour ministry reported on Friday. Nearly 14% of the under 30-year-olds registered in the Youth Guarantee program have already been called up for jobs, according to the ministry. The Youth Guarantee is seen as much-needed assistance in Italy, where unemployment for under-25s is more than 40%. The program targets unemployed people under the age of 30 in its objective of quality job placement, further education, or work-focused training. The ministry reported that while more than half of jobs are in Italy's north, the majority of the applicants come from Italy's southern regions, Campania and Sicily, in particular, with most looking for fixed-term contracts instead of the hard-to-come by open-ended contract.

According to the ministry, 56% of applicants had a high school diploma, though nearly a quarter of the applicants did not have secondary education, while only 20% had higher degrees. Half of all applicants were between 19 and 24 years while 44% were in the 25 to 29 year old age bracket and 6% under 19. Youth Guarantee has a two-year budget of 1.513 billion euros, with 1.134 billion euros in EU funding and the rest financed by Rome. Resources are allocated to Italy's regions, with 100 million euros to be withheld by the labor ministry for educational orientation and intervention in cases where regions can't place applicants.