New Employment Counselling Service Introduced by NES with Support from E2E

Belgrade, April 2025: From April 14–16, 2025, the Education to Employment (E2E) project organized three one-day workshops for the National Employment Service (NES) counsellors. These trainings focused on delivering a new advisory service aimed at supporting unemployed individuals participating in active labour market measures, helping them transition more smoothly into work environments and retain employment over time.

E2E research shows that individuals who have been unemployed for extended periods or face other barriers to employment often struggle to maintain jobs due to lost work habits, outdated skills, and decreased motivation and self-confidence. This newly developed support service will address these challenges by offering targeted guidance after employment begins.

The design of this new NES service was supported by the EU IPA 2020 TA programme, and NES has developed operational guidelines for employment counsellors across its branches. The service will be piloted in Prokuplje, Požarevac, Pančevo, and Jagodina, where innovative support measures for long-term unemployed are being implemented through the EU-IPA 2020 direct grant awarded to NES.

Over 70 NES counsellors and staff members from these and other branches attended the one-day workshops. They were trained to deliver the new service and were introduced to relevant EU practices as well as insights from the E2E project and its civil society partners, who provide pre- and post-employment advisory services.

In a labour market facing workforce shortages—with some Serbian employers turning to foreign labour—this NES initiative strengthens support for unemployed individuals, aiming to promote their long-term integration into the labour market while also helping employers meet their workforce needs.