Combined Corporate Intermediation and Digital Skills Training
RCTReview
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.
Picture this
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.
What the evidence says
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.
- Who was studied
- 2,364 working-age individuals at risk of poverty across 11 Spanish provinces (656 Treatment 1, 653 Treatment 2, 1,055 comparison).
- How
- 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.
What to do
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.
From the source
"Treatment 2 added eight additional digital skills sessions to Treatment 1. ... Treatment 2 improved employment conditions, including the probability of full-time employment, the number of full-time days worked, and employment intensity."
promoting-labor-market-inclusion-policy-publication.pdf