Boostress_ebook

Page | 8 www.boostress.eu In February 2016, the European Council adopted the Commission’s proposal on the integration of the long-term unemployed into the labour market. Its focus is on registration with an employment service, an individual in-depth assessment and a job integration agreement. The New Skills Agenda for Europe, a policy package issued by the Commission in June 2016 brings together ten key actions to equip citizens with skills relevant for the labour market. Of most relevance to the BooStress Project is the priority for action titled: Building resilience: key competences and higher, more complex skills . Whilst not explicitly addressing workplace stress management for young professionals, this EU policy communication does recognise that formal education and training should equip everyone with a broad range of skills which opens doors to personal fulfilment and development, social inclusion, active citizenship and employment. Early acquisition of these skills is highlighted as the foundation for the development of higher, more complex skills which are needed to drive creativity and innovation. These skills need to be strengthened throughout life, and allow people to thrive in fast- evolving workplaces and society, and to cope with complexity and uncertainty. The resources and outputs proposed by BooStress should address support young people to cope with this “complexity and uncertainty” that is very present in today’s market place. From our analysis it is evident that there are considerable gaps in the provision of stress management training and resources for young professional across Europe. At EU policy level, there is a lack of focus on the issue of stress management and its impact on the workforce especially young people. Pan- European research and surveys consistently highlight the cost to European economies of workplace absences due to employee stress and anxiety; yet this issue is not addressed in the policy initiatives reviewed as part of the BooStress desk-research process. Workplace stress management policies, procedures, training and resources are mainly targeted at employers and relate to compliance issues vis-à-vis employment and health and safety laws and regulations. There are a number of EU initiatives, highlighted previously, that are attempting to introduce whole company approaches to address the issue of stress identification, mitigation and management, however there still remains the gap in provision that the project is seeking to address. Since the project application was approved, there have been no significant changes to EU or national initiatives in the partner countries and the need for the project remains highly valid in Cyprus, Spain and Ireland and indeed across Europe. BooStress needs to address the implementation gap that currently exists in relation to the training materials and resources available that have been identified in the desk-based and field-research conducted by partners. Building the competences of young workers and professionals of “how to” be resilient, self-confident and thus manage their stress is a key gap that the project should address. Stress Management in Cyprus Based on a pan-European survey conducted by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work in late 2012, we can deduce that work-related stress is more common in Cyprus than anywhere else in Europe, although half the workforce believes they are well-controlled at their workplace. Despite the prevalence of workplace stress in Cyprus, there are currently no state agencies or service providers providing support specifically to young professionals in Cyprus. In Cyprus, the only instrument in place to measure stress at organisational level is a study by the Department of Labour Inspectorate entitled “Assessment of the Situation in Cyprus: Physical and Mental Disorders of Working People”. However, the study does not provide any positive actions. In 2012, the Labour Inspection Division ran a campaign on psychosocial risks at work with the agreement of the Senior Labour Inspectors (SLIC). The campaign in Cyprus was carried out as part of a working group, coordinated by Sweden, with representatives from 12 Member States. The working group started the campaign planning in 2011 and its main task was to develop tools (based on the needs