On August 9th this year, the second meeting of the Human Capital Development Council (hereinafter - the Council) took place. During this session, the Minister of Economics, Ilze Indriksone, the Minister of Welfare, Evika Siliņa, and the Minister of Education and Science, Anda Čakša, along with representatives of their respective ministries, discussed proposals for amendments to specific laws to reduce administrative barriers for workforce attraction from third countries, and the progress made in developing the Human Capital Development Strategy.
Representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Interior, the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs, and the State Employment Agency also participated in the meeting. Welfare Minister Evika Siliņa pointed out during the meeting: “One of our tasks here is to create a clear system for workers to meet their future employer and to find resources so that employers can invest in their employee's professional development according to demand. We also agreed that the State Employment Agency is the place where support will be provided to businesses in candidate selection.”
Within the framework of the Council’s work, the involved ministries discussed and agreed on solutions to simplify certain administrative procedures. These simplifications include scheduled proposals for the minimum wage required in specific sectors (processing industry and construction), waiving the requirement to submit documents confirming a foreigner's education/professional experience in cases where the profession is not regulated in Latvia, and allowing the supervisory institution to decide on a ban for up to 1 year for a physical or legal person to invite a foreigner if violations related to the foreigner's entry and stay are detected. Discussions about other potential solutions and necessary amendments to regulations will continue in the next Council meeting.
At the same time, it was emphasized that solutions are needed to specifically attract local labor to the job market. "For sustainable economic growth and increasing competitiveness, it is essential to provide workforce for growing and productive industries. From a security and long-term economic development perspective, it is crucial primarily to use local labor and to involve unemployed and currently inactive residents of working age in the labor market," emphasized the Minister of Economics, Ilze Indriksone.
Anda Čakša, Minister of Education and Science, stated: “If we want people who are passionate about STEM, we must start in childhood. Every school at all education levels should have capable and motivated teachers who can effectively teach advanced subjects. Children and young people all over Latvia should have access to resources, laboratories, science centers. So, we are addressing specific issues that will help us achieve our goal - to provide quality, inclusive, and accessible education for children all over Latvia. One of the prerequisites is well-prepared and well-paid teachers, and to achieve this, we have prepared solutions that will ensure good teachers an average salary of 2500 euros within three years.”
During the session, representatives of the expert working groups on the development of the Human Capital Development Strategy presented their work so far and the next steps. As previously reported, to define the sub-objectives of the strategy and develop an action plan to achieve strategic goals, the Council agreed to establish seven thematic expert groups according to defined priorities: Formal education issues; Expansion of the labor market; Attraction of highly qualified workers; Offer, quality, and skill development of adult education; Support for entrepreneurial initiative; Data-driven decision-making; Management issues.
The core of the expert working groups consists of representatives from the relevant ministries, involving additional experts from other ministries, their subordinate institutions, university councils, as well as non-governmental organizations. The Human Capital Development Strategy, including a specific action plan for its achievement, is planned to be developed and submitted for approval to the Cabinet of Ministers this autumn.
It is known that the Declaration on the government's operation includes a commitment to improve labor management, labor availability, and skills and lifelong learning policies. It is also planned to develop and implement a data-driven National Human Capital Development Strategy, including supporting the attraction of highly qualified and professionally prepared labor, especially promoting the return migration of compatriots, as well as knowledge transfer and retraining programs for skills demanded in the labor market, ensuring the growth and export capability of Latvian companies. At the same time, it is planned to promote human resource development according to future demand and the transformation of the economy towards the creation of higher added value, using Latvian university and vocational education graduates, training program participants' monitoring, and improving requalification, professional development, and lifelong learning systems, allocating funds for training that benefits the Latvian economy and society as a whole.
The Human Capital Development Council was established at the beginning of June this year based on the previous Employment Council, clarifying its functions and creating a closer connection with the tasks given by this government's declaration in the field of labor management and human capital development. The Human Capital Development Council is a collegial institution consisting of three ministers - economics, education and science, and welfare - established to implement coordinated intersectoral cooperation, make decisions on the necessary labor market restructuring planning, development, implementation, and monitoring, promoting human resource development according to the future labor market demand and structural changes in the economy towards creating higher added value that would benefit society as a whole. The chairman of the Council is the Minister of Economics."
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