Some 500 sign up for EU Youth Guarantee program in Turin

Piedmont first to enact new jobs program, which kicks off May 1

(ANSA) - Turin, April 11 - Piedmont is the first among Italy's regions to enact a new European Union youth jobs program, and some 500 young people have already signed up, regional authorities said Friday. The regional website will attract an estimated 16-17,000 job seekers a year, and will be integrated with the national government website, according to Piedmont Employment Agency Director Franco Chiaramonte.

EU countries endorsed the program, called Youth Guarantee, in April 2013. It officially kicks off throughout Europe on May 1, including in Italy. The idea is to make sure that every young person in Europe is offered a good-quality job, further education or work-focused training within four months after leaving education or after becoming unemployed.

In Italy, this means that as of May 1, unemployed people aged 25-29 can sign up on the labor ministry website www.garanziagiovani.gov.it or with regional authorities, and they will be contacted with a job offer within four months. The Youth Guarantee program has funding of 1.513 billion euros for two years, with 1.134 billion euros from the EU and the rest financed by Rome.