Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Human Resources Development Convention, 1975 (No. 142) - Argentina (Ratification: 1978)

Implementation of policies and programmes of vocational guidance and training. With reference to its observation of 2009, the Committee notes the Government’s report containing detailed information on various vocational guidance and training programmes. The Government indicates that 20 new employment offices opened in 2013, giving a total of 525 employment offices that became operational throughout the country during the 2005–13 period. The Government includes up-to-date information on employment programmes and the employment and training insurance scheme being implemented as part of the strategic plan of the Employment Secretariat of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security. The Committee observes that between 2008 and 2013 the “More and better work for youth” programme catered for more than 541,000 young persons, who have benefited from services to improve employability, technical assistance and support with regard to self-employment, assisted job placement and job-search support. The above total includes 185,000 young persons who joined the scheme or participated in activities in 2013. The Committee also observes that in 2013 a total of 19,868 newcomers joined the employment and training insurance scheme, bringing the total number affiliated between April 2006 and July 2013 to 475,514. With regard to the services offered for improving employability, the Committee notes that in 2013 more than 352,000 workers engaged in activities designed to increase their job prospects and improve their current conditions of work. The Committee further notes that services were provided in the sphere of vocational training, completion of formal studies, vocational guidance, training for work and skills certification, and observes that over the 2003–13 period the approximate total of people engaging in such activities was 1,880,000. Regarding the system providing vocational training, the Committee observes that since 2003 a total of 349 skills standards were registered in 31 sectors of activity. The Government indicates in its report that a set of actions for enhancing the occupational profiles of participants in employment programmes is being promoted by the Employment Secretariat. It explains that workshops providing guidance and an introduction to the world of work, at which young persons can define an occupational training project, are being held, as are vocational guidance workshops aimed at unemployed persons affiliated to the employment and training insurance scheme. As regards social dialogue, the Government emphasizes that the basis of the tripartite sectoral councils for further training and skills certification, which are forums for coordinating Employment Secretariat policies, has been consolidated and expanded. The Government indicates that, to date, the tripartite sectoral councils have been established in more than 20 sectors of activity. Lastly, the Committee notes that as part of the implementation of active employment policies by the Employment Secretariat, “territorial agreements for employment promotion” have been implemented, which aims to consolidate capacity for the local management of employment policies and which can be supported by municipal or provincial governments and by the social partners. The Committee invites the Government to continue providing information and statistics in its next report to allow an examination of the results achieved under the various programmes and plans implemented in relation to the vocational training and guidance given and the integration of the beneficiaries into the labour market. The Committee hopes that the Government will include in its next report detailed information on the manner in which the social partners have collaborated in the implementation of programmes created by the Ministry of Labour relating to human resources development.