DO TRAINEESHIP EXPERIENCES INCREASE THE YOUTH EMPLOYABILITY? CASE STUDY AMONG ROMANIAN YOUTH AGED 15-24

Youth continues to be one of the most vulnerable groups on Romanian labor market, characterized by high rates of early school leaving, high rates of NEETs (young people Not in Education, Employment, or Training), long transition from school to work and high risk to work informally. Employers often invoke the lack of practical skills or previous working experiences in explaining their reluctance for recruiting youth. There is a consensus among all the stakeholders (parents, youth, schools and employers) that participating to traineeships could improve the employability and future prospects of youth on the labor market. Benefits of traineeships refer both to learn how to apply theoretical knowledge but also to the opportunity of having first contact with the world of work. Traineeships have a lot of forms of organizations such as volunteering, practical stages, internships, work-based learning, and apprenticeships etc., most of them being in their early stages of development and implementation with success in Romania. This paper aims to analyze the profile of Romanian youth aged 15-24 that had traineeships experiences and which are the most important perceived benefits and obstacles relating to participation to such traineeships. Also the impact of traineeships on the employability of youth will be analyzed. In order to reach the paper objectives we use the data collected in 2015 through a national survey among 415 Romanian youth.