Làbora innovative employability programme

Làbora is a large network of collaboration between Barcelona City Council (ES), social organisations and companies in the city. The programme was launched 10 years ago to assist long-term unemployed individuals or people with low employability in gaining access to the labour market. It aims to improve their employment opportunities, while also promoting individual and social autonomy.

Barcelona City Council and three federations of social entities share the strategic leadership of the project and organise a structured network of collaborative work. Below this governance level, nearly 30 non-profit organisations and 100 companies collaborate in Làbora every year. As a result, each year 6 000 people participate in Làbora and 1 000 people find a job. 

The approach involves five main phases:

1. Referral  
   Social service workers refer individuals who want to participate in the programme through a shared IT platform.

    

2. Welcome and on-boarding  
   A member of staff calls the user, explains what Làbora is, and confirms their motivation.

    

3. Counselling  
   Employment counsellors provide career guidance services to define the career of each participant.

    

4. Training  
   The training team organises trainings, workshops and courses in cooperation with external agents and resources to improve the skills and employability of participants.

    

5. Workforce integration  
   Labour prospectors look for companies that best suit the participants’ professional profile and make recruitment easier for the companies.  

As a result, the initiative’s main objectives are:

• To empower people at risk of exclusion through individualised work, respecting the time of each person, and promoting their personal autonomy and connection with the environment.
• To challenge the feminisation of poverty.
• To tackle ageism in the labour market. 

This project adopts a comprehensive approach to address urban challenges, encompassing environmental, economic, and social dimensions simultaneously and complementarily. In the environmental realm, care is taken to avoid generating paper documentation and to optimise waste management. 

Làbora promotes the development of local economies through the creation of green jobs and the promotion of sustainable entrepreneurship. The project prioritises small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that adopt eco-efficient practices, improving their competitiveness and resilience. 

From a social perspective, the project focuses on community cohesion and wellbeing, as it promotes equity and access to quality jobs, improving the quality of life for urban residents. 

Participation is a key pillar of Làbora’s strategic and operational development.

In terms of governance, a strategic committee ensures the sound general management of the programme's activity and defines the strategy. It is made up of public administrations, and federations of entities.

Meanwhile, a technical direction committee oversees operational activities. It is comprised of social entities, City Council representatives, and Làbora's management team. This includes a Data and Knowledge Department that prepares reports and studies to improve decision-making across Làbora’s ecosystem.

Participation is encouraged through:

• Companies: Taules d’Empresa is a consultation space where strategies in relation to talent management and diversity are shared. It is made up of voluntary companies and meets according to the needs and challenges proposed by Làbora’s management team.
• Social organisations: In addition to individualised follow-up meetings, the Àgora of Entities is celebrated annually. This is where social organisations share annual results, challenges, and new proposals.
• Operative macro-meetings: Twice a year, counsellors, trainers and business intermediation teams meet to share good practices and new strategies for accompanying users.
• Networking day: An annual meeting of all Làbora agents, public administrations, social entities, participants and companies. A chance to share the year’s results and new challenges, and hold speed-dating job interviews. 

Results of a project impact assessment of the programme's first 10 years of activity show that between 50 000 and 55 000 people had participated in the Làbora programme. The impact evaluation is based on documentary analysis, focus groups, interviews, and data analysis. It indicates that people who participated in Làbora between 2019 and 2022 have an almost 8 percentage point higher probability of being employed than non-participants, keeping other variables constant. No differences in this rate were detected between other groups such as gender, age, origin or family background.

Regarding the quality of jobs, while Spanish labour reform has increased the possibilities of access to a permanent contract, Làbora participants are 12 percentage points more likely to have a full-time contract than non-participants. This is a statistically significant effect. No differences were apparent between other groups such as gender, age, origin or family background. 

In terms of improving employability, participants in Làbora have a confidence index 0.035 points (4%) higher than non-participants. People of foreign origin and younger people have a higher index than the rest.  

Poverty risk is a challenge in most European cities. While helping tackle this situation, the Làbora programme also supports efforts to reach four Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

• SDG 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere. Làbora improves coordination among administrations and social entities.
• SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Làbora promotes social and economic recognition of domestic and unpaid care work.
• SDG 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all. Làbora fosters job skills of unemployed people, and helps reduce job insecurity. 
• SDG 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development. Làbora encourages and fosters partnerships between the public, private sectors, and social entities. 

To facilitate this practice’s transfer to other cities, Barcelona believes that the work methodology that they have used and adjusted over the years is essential. They propose to make the methodology available to cities that require it, as well as providing support, through a joint working group for example. 

The methodology developed for Làbora should be adjusted as necessary for each urban context. Barcelona is a large and very heterogeneous city with varied urban contexts to which the project has adapted perfectly.