A Conference on cross-border labour mobility in the Central Baltic region will take place in Riga, Latvia on 19 March 2013

The public Centralbaltic Job Ferry Final Conference on the cross-border labour market mobility in the Central Baltic region will take a place at the University of Latvia Main Building (Raina Street 19, Small Hall), Riga, Latvia on 19 March 2013
from 9:30 to 17:00. The Conference will focus on the recent trends of the labour market and labour mobility in the Central Baltic region and beyond, as well as opportunities offered by a new internet platform www.cbjobferry.eu.

The Central Baltic region is home to some 10 million people. Cross-border labour market mobility within the region has allowed more efficient matching of employees’ skills with employment opportunities. However, it has also aggravated the internal labour market situation in Estonia and Latvia, but at the same time labour market mobility has also offered possibilities for individual employees and facilitated general up-skilling of their qualifications. In the upcoming years a labour shortage is expected in quite some sectors across the region. CB Job Ferry project aimed to increase cross-border mobility in all the countries of the region by mapping potentially demanded professions and providing detailed information for job seekers.

The public Centralbaltic Job Ferry Final Conference on the cross-border labour market mobility in the Central Baltic region will take a place at the University of Latvia Main Building (Raina Street 19, Small Hall), Riga, Latvia on 19 March 2013 from 9:30 to 17:00. The Conference will focus on the recent trends of the labour market and labour mobility in the Central Baltic region and beyond, as well as opportunities offered by a new internet platform www.cbjobferry.eu.

The conference will present the main research outcomes of the project concerning labour mobility in the Central Baltic region. Further the Centralbaltic Job Ferry web platform (www.cbjobferry.eu) will be presented. The platform offers comparative information on the most demanded professions in the Central Baltic region as well as information on e.g. recognition of professional qualifications, working conditions, professional requirements, and potential employers. Among conference participants and invited speakers there will be guests from labour market institutions, especially those dealing with labour mobility issues as well as from universities, other education institutes, employers’ organisations and labour unions and employers. Also for example public and private placement officers andHR managers from the region are welcome. Also representatives from the cross-border regions of the EU, as well as representatives from other organizations and projects dealing with cross-border labour mobility are most welcome to participate.

The conference will discuss the following questions:

• What are main characteristics of the cross-border labour market mobility in the Central Baltic region and how can they influence the labour market situation in Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Sweden?
• Building on the experience of other cross-border regions, organizations and projects in Europe, what are possibilities for collaboration between different projects?
• What are the existing experiences in recruiting cross-border job seekers, opportunities and drawbacks of cross-border labour mobility?
• How can the web platform (www.cbjobferry.eu) support employers to find employees and employees to find employers as well as relevant education? What are stakeholder’s interests and how can they benefit from the Central Baltic Job Ferry platform?

All interested parties are welcome to participate in the event. Participation is free of charge.

The registration deadline is March 5th, 2013. If you want to register for the conference or to get more information regarding participation, please, contact Ms. Viktorija Stadnika (viktorija.stadnika@lu.lv; tel. +371 26878539) or Ms. Denize Ponomarjova (denize.ponomarjova@lu.lv; tel. +371 28241115). The Centralbaltic Job Ferry is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the EU Central Baltic Interreg IVA Programme 2007-2013.

Additional information and an updated conference agenda can be found here.