Münsterland Regional Agency strengthens the labour market and focuses on attracting skilled workers

Annual cooperation meeting sets the course for 2023

The challenges surrounding the situation of Ukrainian refugees will be a stronger focus of the work of the Münsterland Regional Agency in the future. This is the result of the annual cooperation meeting of the Regional Agency's steering committee with representatives of the NRW Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs (MAGS). The steering committee of the regional agency met yesterday (16 November) at Gut Havichhorst in Münster to evaluate the current business year and to set new thematic priorities for 2023.

The Münsterland Regional Agency, based at Münsterland e.V., acts as an interface between the Ministry of Labour and the region. It implements numerous concepts, programmes and projects of the Ministry and supports both companies and employees. An important task of the regional agency is to network the actors in the Münsterland on current topics. For example, it holds regular exchange meetings with the heads of the job centres in the districts of Borken, Coesfeld, Steinfurt, Warendorf and the city of Münster. This year, the focus was on the "effects of the war in Ukraine" and the "energy crisis".

"The war in Ukraine and the energy crisis pose special challenges for the labour market and call for strong inter-municipal cooperation," explained Dr. Olaf Gericke, District Administrator of Warendorf and Chairman of the Steering Committee. In order to be able to act quickly in times of crisis, the networking of local actors is particularly important. For example, the number of posts in the "Counselling Centres for Employment" programme was increased by 0.5 posts each to cover the increased counselling needs expected due to the effects of the war. The "Counselling Centres for Work" are local and professional contact points for the unemployed and people in difficult employment situations.

The Münsterland Regional Agency had already networked the "Beratungsstellen Arbeit" and the job centres at a round table on 8 November. The aim was to exchange information about the offers for Ukrainian refugees, to determine the status quo of the existing support infrastructure, to network the measures with each other and, if necessary, to develop new or adapted formats. "Only in direct contact with the advisory institutions can needs be precisely identified," said Julia Roesler, Head of the Münsterland Regional Agency at Münsterland e.V..

To support employers on this topic, Münsterland e.V. offers information on the employment of Ukrainian refugees on its website. From job placement to occupational recognition to onboarding in the company, managers and HR managers can find frequently asked questions and answers there. The online service was implemented by the Onboarding@Münsterland service, which complements the services offered by the regional agency.

Another topic of the cooperation meeting was the successful use of further funding programmes in Münsterland. For example, a total of 1,655 education vouchers were issued to employees or companies in 2022. This means that the entire quota for the current year has already been used up, making Münsterland the front-runner among the NRW regions. The same applies to the funding programme "unternehmensWert:Mensch", which expires at the end of 2022. Of these, around 150 consultations were taken up in the Münsterland. The situation is similar for the issue of potential consultations, which concern small and medium-sized enterprises: With 93 consultations, Münsterland is in one of the top places in NRW.

New is the funding instrument "Transformation Consultancy NRW", which is aimed at companies that want to expand their green economy strategy. The EU-funded offer supports companies in climate-neutral and digital business.

www.regionalagentur-muensterland.de