Combined Corporate Intermediation and Digital Skills Training

In Simple Words

Searching for work with basic advice is like sending out cold resumes into a dark void. Pairing dedicated employment liaisons who actively negotiate directly with local employers alongside hands-on digital skills instruction acts like a professional matchmaking service that places job seekers straight into suitable open positions.

Research question

Standard job search workshops for vulnerable welfare recipients rarely lead to formal, high-quality employment unless accompanied by direct business intermediation and specialized digital competency instruction.

Participants

2,364 working-age individuals at risk of poverty across 11 Spanish provinces (656 Treatment 1, 653 Treatment 2, 1,055 comparison).

Study Design

Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) by Cáritas evaluating Treatment 1 (4 job search sessions, 8 basic skills, direct employer intermediation) and Treatment 2 (Treatment 1 + 8 digital skills sessions) over 9 months against a comparison group receiving 3 job search sessions.

Results

Treatment 2 (combining employer intermediation with digital skills) significantly improved quality employment outcomes, increasing the probability of full-time employment, the number of full-time days worked, and overall employment intensity, while decreasing loan default rates.

Takeaway

Combine direct employer matching liaisons with eight mandatory digital skills training sessions to boost full-time employment rates among job seekers at risk of poverty.

Read alongside the research

Plain-English glossary

Original explanations, informed by the references below. Examples are illustrations, not data from the studies above. The research text stays unchanged.

Randomized controlled trial

A study that uses chance, like drawing lots, to decide who receives each option being compared. Researchers compare the groups’ outcomes to estimate the effect of those options.

ExampleA lottery assigns volunteers to a training programme or a comparison group. Researchers then compare their outcomes.

GET-IT glossary · Randomized study ↗Read more about randomized controlled trial →

Related findings

• Online Employment Platform Navigation and Communication Offset →Labour & employment

  Imagine a quiet inventor who stumbles during spoken presentations but can showcase a fully functional digital portfolio online. Training the inventor to build a structured online profile lets prospective partners evaluate concrete achievements directly rather than relying on verbal pitch confidence.

• Bundled Digital Literacy and Active Job Search Training →Labour & employment

  Imagine giving a traveler a vehicle to a destination miles away but expecting them to drive without ever teaching them how to operate a car. Providing hardware (a tablet and internet connection) combined with intensive driving lessons (100 hours of hands-on digital skills instruction) equips job seekers to navigate digital highways toward employment opportunities and administrative benefits independently.

• Ability-Dependent Peer Screening →Labour & employment

  Imagine trying to pick the best chess player out of a crowd. Only a master chess player has the expertise to accurately assess who among their acquaintances truly plays at an elite level, whereas a beginner cannot distinguish between a decent amateur and a grandmaster.

• Ability-Heterogeneous Wage Returns →Labour & employment

  Imagine a nightclub with a strict dress code based on exam scores where high scorers enter easily without extra effort. For high-scoring individuals, additional work experience adds little value because employers already hire them based on test scores.