2017-2019 – GEFYRA (Greek Enterprises For Youth Reinforcement Acceleration)

At CSR HELLAS, we created the GEFYRA program aiming to:

• form a new model for businesses to offer quality positions of “employment preparation”, with the ultimate goal being to convert a substantial amount of those positions into permanent employment positions, on 3 levels:

1. apprenticeship
2. internship
3. traineeship

• reduce the skills gap and through this contribute to the confrontation of youth unemployment

• contain the brain drain phenomenon

Our goals, through the program, were:
• To create 3000 “employment preparation” positions in the above 3 sectors,
• To foster 150 collaborations between corporate and academic bodies,
• To create an electronic platform for the support of a) the linkage of positions on offer by businesses with the relevant demand on the part of young people and b) the development of synergies between corporate and academic foundations/ schools/ departments,
• To organize 8 events in Greece for the provision of information and the dissemination of the program’s action plan to all stakeholders (members of the academic community, representatives of corporate and sectoral bodies, students etc.), with the first opening event taking place in Athens on the 13th of November 2017, followed by events in Thessaloniki, Patras, Heraklion, Ioannina, Volos, Xanthi, and closing with a debriefing event in Athens.
• To provide a best practice guide based on practices that were developed during the program and were later presented at the debriefing event of the program
• To record skill gaps in specific skill-sets with field research on students and graduates as well as chambers

The successful implementation of the program relied on the active participation and contribution of businesses through their commitment to:

• provide a number of paid positions for “employment preparation” in the 3 axes (apprenticeship, internship, traineeship) with the incorporation of qualitative criteria that had been commonly agreed during the consultation that took place previously with stakeholders,

• create a framework for the formation of specific collaborations with bodies from the academic community,

• contribute to the actualization of actions for the dissemination and communication of the program,

• Provisionally, participate in the program “Adopt an SME”, committing to cover the student expenses of youths (for the part not covered by OAED) that work in SMEs within their supply chain.

The benefits that the initiators received from their participation in the program were the following:

1. contribution to the confrontation of the skill gap issue
2. new talent attraction and through their maintenance in the workforce, confrontation of the brain drain problem
3. enhancement of the business’ image as an active citizen and responsible employer
4. improvement of the quality of apprenticeship/internship/traineeship programs
5. reinforcement of their relationship with SMEs in their supply chain (“Adopt an SME” program)
6. Support in the development of collaborations with the academic community
7. Promotion of the business in events and productions of the program on a national and European level

Below you will find the action plan that we followed as well as an informative leaflet relating to the GEFYRA initiative, which were available during the program’s implementation. These documents are only available in Greek.