Many staffing firms operating in Europe know that addressing high youth unemployment is a daunting task. In Saint-Nazaire, a city best known for its cruise liners and building industry, the local temporary work agencies organised a job dating event aimed at local jobless youth, according to the daily newspaper Ouest France.

http://www.ouest-france.fr/pays-de-la-loire/saint-nazaire-44600/emploi-les-boites-dinterim-ciblent-les-jeunes-4451280

 According to the recruiters and candidates who made the move, these two populations seldom meet. Young candidates struggling to secure jobs tend to feel uneasy with professional recruiters, but the job dating event provided an environment where they felt safe to talk about their education and job history.

Staffing firms’ representatives also declared the event a success. “We were able to meet candidates that we will keep in touch with”, said Anne-Laure Jegoux, recruiter at the local Groupe Crit branch. “Our aim was to meet candidates that we usually don’t get to meet. We always have jobs to offer to candidates with the right skills in industrial metal work, but not enough candidates”.

 The job dating event was organised as a partnership between the local job centre and the temporary work agencies operating in the region. Every year the job centre provides career guidance to 2,900 unemployed youth.