Mousiouttas to chair EU talks on skills and human capital

Cyprus has made youth employment a priority under a new labour market strategy for 2026 – 2028, Labour Minister Marinos Mousiouttas said, while acknowledging that joblessness among under-25s remains in double digits.

In a reply to questions from Green party MP Charalambos Theopemptou, Mousiouttas said measures aimed at helping young people into work are already covered by the National Strategy for Active Employment Measures for 2023 – 2025, as well as by a new strategy for 2026 – 2028, a draft of which was submitted to the European Commission in December 2025.

He said the labour department’s approach includes counselling, personalised support, individual action plans and participation in subsidised employment schemes.

The minister’s response comes as recent data point to continued pressure in the youth labour market.

According to Eurostat, Cyprus’ youth unemployment rate stood at 15 per cent in December 2025, broadly in line with the EU average of 15.1 per cent and slightly above the eurozone’s 14.8 per cent.

At the same time, figures from the Cyprus statistical service (Cystat) showed that unemployment among those aged 15 to 24 rose to 14.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2025, compared with 9.6 per cent a year earlier. The rate stood at 14.8 per cent for men and 14.7 per cent for women.

Theopemptou had asked what procedure was followed in drawing up the ministry’s National Action Plan for Youth Employment, which ended in 2017, how its implementation was assessed, and whether it had been replaced by another framework.

In his response, Mousiouttas set out a number of measures promoted in recent years to support youth employment.

Among them, he said, was an early detection mechanism for NEETs, young people not in employment, education or training, under which those identified are referred to employment counsellors within the first month of registering with the public employment service.

He also referred to a targeted outreach programme for NEETs aged 15 to 29, which ran from January 2024 to August 2025 through mobile public employment service units operating in both urban and rural areas.

Under that scheme, 12 specialised employment counsellors, supported by a coordinator and working alongside public employment service staff, travelled across the country to identify, guide and support young people outside work and education, with the aim of reducing the risk of social exclusion and improving their chances of entering the labour market.

However, Mousiouttas said the results were limited. Only 542 NEETs were identified through the programme and, as a result, the government decided not to renew it.

At the same time, he said, the labour department continues to promote various incentive schemes aimed at young people, including a programme currently in place for the recruitment of NEETs aged 15 to 29 under flexible working arrangements.

He added that the department is also actively involved in drafting the National Youth Strategy being prepared by the Youth Board of Cyprus, with labour market measures incorporated into that wider framework.

Mousiouttas also pointed to longer-term structural weaknesses in Cyprus’ labour market, citing a preliminary study carried out by experts from the International Labour Organisation after an invitation from the labour department in 2013.

That study, he said, identified structural problems that could not be resolved in the short term, prompting the preparation of the National Action Plan for Youth Employment as a broader strategic response following consultations with stakeholders.

Among the key interventions identified at the time was the restructuring of technical and vocational education to make it a more attractive path for young people.

Mousiouttas said this has since been reflected in an ongoing project by the education ministry to develop technical and vocational education and training, with a current budget of more than €30 million.

He also referred to efforts to strengthen and modernise the public employment service and the labour department, a project that began in 2014 and is due to continue until 2027, with a current budget of €17.8m.

Another priority, he said, was the upgrading of lifelong career guidance, beginning in school and continuing throughout a person’s working life.

That, he added, has led to the creation of the National Lifelong Guidance Agency, aimed at closer cooperation between education and employment guidance services.

In addition, he said the modernisation of apprenticeship and internship systems had been identified as another essential reform, with changes introduced since 2014 as part of efforts to strengthen technical and vocational education and improve the employability of young people.

Mousiouttas said that after the youth employment action plan ended in 2017, it was replaced by the National Youth Strategy for 2017 – 2022, which was adopted by the cabinet in May of that year and coordinated by the Youth Board of Cyprus with the participation of young people and public bodies.

That strategy covered eight policy areas, including employment and entrepreneurship, social inclusion, participation, education and training, health and wellbeing, volunteering, youth and the world, and creativity and culture.

Following its completion, he said, the Youth Board is now preparing the second National Youth Strategy 2030

In related news, Mousiouttas is currently in Brussels to chair the EU Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) on Monday, as the bloc prepares to discuss the 2026 European Semester, human capital and the impact of artificial intelligence on jobs.

Among the main items on the agenda is the expected adoption of a new EU recommendation on human capital, part of the European Commission’s autumn European Semester package.

The initiative aims to identify skills shortages and mismatches across the bloc, while also improving coordination between training, retraining and education policies.

The council will also be briefed by the Cyprus presidency on the preliminary agreement reached on revising the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund regulation.

The changes are intended to ensure that workers facing redundancy receive support more quickly, helping them either return to the labour market sooner or remain in employment by taking on different roles.

In addition, EU employment ministers are due to hold a policy debate on ‘From Innovation to Quality Jobs: using AI to strengthen quality employment and workers’ rights’.

The discussion will take place in the presence of European commission executive vice-president Roxana Mînzatu, who is responsible for social rights, skills, quality jobs and preparedness, and with the participation of Nobel Prize-winning economist Christopher Pissarides.