Date of label : 29/10/2024
Employment Forum at the Michelin’s factory in Nyíregyháza.
Summary
Nyíregyháza's (HU) innovative multi-level governance approach to labour market improvement represents a scalable and transferable model of stakeholder engagement and strategic action. The cornerstone of the initiative is the Employment Forum, a consultative body representing a wide range of public and private stakeholders.
The Forum meets regularly to discuss key issues such as talent retention, women in the labour market and digitalisation. Initially a top-down network, the Forum has evolved into a self-activated, collaborative body with grassroots working groups addressing specific labour market issues. Between 2017 and 2023, more than 120 events have been organised, leading to tangible outcomes such as business surveys, large-scale career orientation events and online platforms to retain skilled workers.
The solutions offered by the Good Practice
The multi-level governance approach to improving the labour market in Nyíregyháza is an offshoot of the Employment Partnership project co-funded by the European Social Fund (ESF). A key pillar of the initiative is the Employment Forum, the network's consultative body, which ensures participation, subsidiarity and publicity. The 38 members of the Forum represent a wide range of public and private stakeholders, including local and regional authorities, educational institutions, enterprises and NGOs.
Forum members are actively involved in the preparation of documents such as the Memorandum of Understanding, the State of the Art, the employment and investment strategies and the annual work plans. The Forum's meetings (held four times a year) focus on issues such as talent retention, women in the workforce, employment of vulnerable groups and digitalisation.
Although the Forum started as a top-down network to identify labour market challenges and define common goals, participants now develop solutions to address common challenges. They have set up four grassroots Working Groups:
- Labour market dynamics.
- Career orientation.
- Modern training structures.
- Mobility of workforce.
These groups share their findings with decision-makers, professional interest groups and residents through surveys on labour market trends, a major career orientation event, online platforms for retaining talented young people, etc. Currently, they are developing an employer-city brand.
Building on the sustainable and integrated urban approach
The multi-level labour market governance approach ensures that efforts are not siloed but interconnected, leading to more sustainable and integrated urban development:
- Territorial integration is encouraged, as a city’s employment challenges cannot be handled without considering its surrounding area (e.g. smaller settlements where commuters live).
- Cooperation between the public, private and civil sectors ensures that economic, social and environmental issues are addressed in an integrated way.
A broad range of actors collaborate to address diverse economic problems. Activities led by the Forum and its working groups aim to boost local employment, develop the workforce, improve workplace quality, attract investments and promote economic growth and resilience. Enhancing the labour market in this way brings economic prosperity and social equity.
The initiative emphasises social inclusion and community engagement, by addressing key issues such as retaining talent, integrating women into the workforce, and supporting vulnerable groups.
Although the focus is primarily on economic and social aspects, the initiative also integrates environmental aspects. Together with digitalisation and modern training structures, it promotes the efficient use of resources, green jobs and sustainable business practices.
Based on a participatory approach
The practice aims to increase participation and stakeholder engagement through multi-level governance, involving all actors who influence or are affected by the local labour market. The organisations involved from the outset:
- Municipality of Nyíregyháza.
- County government.
- Labour market authority.
- Vocational training and higher education institutions.
- Business support organisations.
- Public service providers.
- Sectoral agencies.
- Local companies.
- Social enterprises.
- Churches.
- NGOs.
Between 2016 and 2023, the Employment Partnership organised more than 120 events, including workshops, seminars, conferences, factory and farm tours, best practice forums and awareness-raising events.
The Employment Forum and the working groups led the governance approach. At the start of the project, local needs and expectations were revealed through questionnaires targeting enterprises and job seekers, in-person interviews with HR leaders of large companies and experts from related fields, and focus groups with young or unemployed people. Some activities were repeated annually to monitor progress.
What difference has it made?
Interconnected challenges arise from adverse economic and social dynamics, such as an ageing population, labour market mismatches, and the needs of vulnerable groups. Businesses face serious labour shortages, alongside structural unemployment, made worse by selective outmigration of young, educated people and limited job access for marginalised groups. Although various stakeholders address these issues, they often act in an uncoordinated manner. Such fragmented governance can lead to overlapping or conflicting interventions.
Prior to the establishment of the Employment Forum, there was little coordination or cooperation between labour market actors in identifying challenges and interventions, as they were often unaware of each other's activities.
The Forum has enabled local problems to be addressed more effectively, by fostering knowledge sharing and the exchange of experiences.
Key outcomes of the governance model:
- 38 directly involved organisations.
- Over 120 events organised.
- Over 5 000 partipants at these events.
Initiatives launched by stakeholders:
- Setting up thematic working groups.
- Conducting a company survey on recruitment, career orientation, and workforce mobility.
- Organising a business forum and a large career orientation event.
- Developing online platforms.
- Establishing employer-city branding.
Why this Good Practice should be transferred to other cities
Nyíregyháza’s labour market governance approach is broadly transferable and can be easily adapted by cities of any size or location. If offers a flexible solution that can be quickly tailored to local labour market challenges, social diversity, and economic dynamics. Most cities struggle with coordinating stakeholders, transitioning to bottom-up governance, achieving transparency and accountability, and scaling up tools – this new approach addresses these challenges.
In terms of policy applicable to any EU city, the practice contributes to:
- The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): SDG 1 (No poverty), SDG 4 (Quality education), SDG 5 (Gender equality), SDG 8 (Decent work and economic growth), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the goals).
- The Urban Agenda for the EU’s ‘Jobs and Skills in the Local Economy’ partnership.
- The EU Territorial Agenda 2030, which also focuses on cooperation between policy sectors and societal groups to address complex issues.
The practice aligns with EU frameworks such as the ESF, and its core principles – multi-level governance, stakeholder engagement and tailored local solutions – can be adapted by other European cities in different national contexts. It is scalable, and being modular can be implemented step-by-step.
Essential elements for adoption include:
- Stakeholder commitment: Public support and prioritisation of labour market partnerships.
- Operational coordinators: Sufficient capacity, motivation and empowerment.
- Financial resources: Lower for the launch phase, but boosted for later stages, depending on the actions.
- Intellectual capital: Knowledge, expertise, and a commitment to continuous learning.
- Participative approach: Based on common interests and a roadmap with joint actions.