The general objective of this project was to empower young adults in Pest County and its surroundings (HU) and in the Harghita, Covasna, and Mures districts (RO) who were Not in Education, Employment, or Training (NEET), enabling them to become entrepreneurs, develop their digital competencies, and compete effectively in the market. Our goal was to support young people seeking their place by helping them understand their goals and interests, and supporting them in leveraging these to create value. This approach aimed not only to assist these young individuals but also to benefit their communities, where their work could be valuable and serve as an example.
Unemployment is definitely one of the biggest problems among young people, including young adults, influencing their self-esteem and look to the future. According to Eurostat (July 2021), nearly 29% of Hungarians females and 10% Hungarians males 20-34 y.o. are NEETS. For Romania, the percentage are similar (29% and 12%). If this is the situation regarding employment, the pandemic brought to the surface another topic: the importance of digital skills. If young people want to find a proper job and be noticed by companies, they have to know basic digital skills nowadays. At the local level, the organizations recognized that their target group fell into these NEETs categories: some have never been employed and are searching for their first job. Others are short or long-term unemployed. Others are getting discouraged because they cannot find a proper job position based on their studies. The motivation behind our project is based on the analysis on European, national and local trends. In addition, this project would contribute to the European Commission's targets, which are related to the European skills agenda and the digital education action plan. This goal is to get to the 70% of adults with basic digital skills by 2025.