The job fair and international conference, which were organized on April 14, 2023, attracted many interested people to the main hall of the Świętokrzyskie Polytechnic University. More than 130 people took part in the conference itself, the vast majority of whom were foreigners.
The implementation of the initiative was possible thanks to the cooperation of the Association Integration of Europe - East and the Regional Employment Center in the city of Kielce, the District Employment Center in the city of Kielce and the Świętokrzyskie Polytechnic University.
The project "Swietokrzyskie for the integration and professional activation of foreigners" is financed from the Labor Fund within the framework of the competition "Together we can do more - the first edition of the activation program for foreigners for 2022-2023" announced by the Minister of Family and Social Policy.
At the exhibition stands, the largest group of interested people were citizens of Ukraine. Some of them found work that day. The most jobs were found in bakeries and tailoring, although you could also find work in the service sector. In addition to the offers of local entrepreneurs, there were free consultations by officials and employees of NGOs, available at the information and advisory stands. This type of support was equally popular. The guests of Jakrmanka most often asked about the legalization of residence, career counseling and current assistance projects in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship.
The conference was opened by Renata Janik - Deputy Marshal of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodship, Krzysztof Słoń - Senator of the Republic of Poland, Artur Maciąg - Vice-Rector for Student Affairs and Teaching at the Kielce University of Technology, Agnieszka Kubicka - Deputy Director of the Regional Labor Office in Kielce, Magdalena Karwat-Kasińska - Director of the District Labor Office in Kielce, Krzysztof Kalita – President of the Integration Europe – East Association.
The conference part consisted of speeches of experts related to the local labor market. Lectures were delivered, among others, by Ms. Agnieszka Kubicka - deputy director of the Regional Labor Office in Kielce and Ms. Magdalena Karwat-Kasińska - director of the District Labor Office in Kielce.
There was also substantive support from the employees of: the Social Insurance Institution in Kielce (Jacek Skrobot - Head of the Customer Service Department), the Municipal Family Support Center in Kielce (Justyna Czwartosz - Deputy Head of the Environmental Assistance Department), the Investor Assistance Center in Skarżysko-Kamienna (Sławomir Ciaś - Director of COI), Information Point for Foreigners in Kielce (Agnieszka Kowalik - SIEW Kielce). Employees of the Association (Olha Kholodna, Urszula Kaźmierska, Sylwia Bluszcz) organized a discussion on the experiences of Ukrainian women on the labor market in Świętokrzyskie (the results of research conducted by our psychologist were analyzed and examples of good practice were shared).
This conference, together with the job fair, is part of the activities supporting the adaptation of refugees from Ukraine, carried out as part of the above-mentioned project.
After all, professional integration and activation of foreigners is a complex process, which the Association has been implementing together with RLO and DLO in Kielce since 2022, providing, among others, Polish language courses, career guidance, integration workshops, psychological and legal consultations.
Info: Sylwia Bluszcz - Association Integration Europe - East
Photographs: SIEW Archive and RLO Kielce
