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EMPLOYMENT AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS IN VENTSPILS REGION OF LATVIA

Z. Oborenko, M. Zivitere, E. Konstantinova

Abstract

The rapidly changing economic situation in the European Union (EU), including Latvia, is reflected in the labour market. The acute problem of the Latvian labour market is an imbalance between its supply and demand: on one hand, relatively high unemployment rates, and on the other hand, job vacancies. One of the largest inactive social groups is people with disabilities. This real situation does not correlate with the tactics of promoting employment and social inclusion strategies in the EU and Latvia. The aims of this study were to identify both the main barriers to integrating disabled people into the labour market and what can be done to enhance the integration of this social group in the Ventspils city and county of Latvia. The paper applies an analytical study of secondary sources and primary data analysis obtained in a quantitative way (i.e. a questionnaire survey for entrepreneurs – employers) and a qualitative way (i.e. interviews with experts from the State Employment Agency and with representatives of the non-governmental sector). The study showed that the main barrier to integrating people with disabilities into the labour market is incompatibility related to the lack of a qualified, skilled and motivated labour force and low qualification supply. Therefore, to involve people with disabilities efficiently into the labour market, this study suggests that there should be more necessary, well-considered and result-oriented measures with new more effective and complex mechanisms, based on mutual interest partnerships between government institutions, employers’ and workers’ organisations, and training institutions.

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DOI resolver: doi.org/10.5593/SWS.ISCSS.2019.2/S05.061

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