Local Labour Market Research - The First Stage Of Our New Open-Source Supported Employment Model
Introducing our Changemaker-Based Supported Employment Model Description — an open-source tool designed to make inclusive employment scalable and sustainable.
On September 26, we had an expert session with Andreas Nyhlén, supported employment expert and CEO of Misa Kompetens, WiljaGruppen, one of Europe’s leading supported employment organizations.
During the session, we discussed Stage 1 of our open-source model and received valuable feedback that helped us to refine this part of the tool.
Stage 1: Local Market Research
Launching of the project in a specific city or region starts with a detailed local market research of the region or city. The research report covers:
🔹 The current state of the local labor market and labor demand, including characteristics of available vacancies.
🔹 The most popular platforms for finding personnel.
🔹 The involvement of local companies in CSR/ESG initiatives.
🔹 Government incentives for employing people with special needs, relevant laws and practices.
🔹 The profile of a potential candidate in the location
🔹 Previous local experiences in employing people with special needs, including challenges employers have faced.
This research allows to identify viable business mechanisms and solutions that facilitate employment and retention of candidates, develop adapted proposals for employers, and create tools to test these proposals.
“What I find important in this model is that it focuses not only on jobseekers but also on local employers’ needs — this aligns well with how supported employment is developing today.” — Andreas Nyhlén (Misa Kompetens / WiljaGruppen).
Two pilots of the local market research were made: in Uzbekistan and in Estonia — two countries with different labor market realities but a shared motivation to make employment more inclusive.
A key insight from our pilots is the value for Changemakers in communicating with peers from other countries. This suggests that there is an upside of launching the project in two countries. Furthermore, since potential Changemakers are key research respondents, combining market research with a small-scale pilot project is highly efficient. Success in this pilot phase is measured by placing a candidate into an open-market job with a signed contract for at least one day—a milestone we refer to as a "unit." Achieving two to three such units is a significant indicator of initial viability.
Over the coming weeks, we will be sharing a deep dive into the subsequent stages of our method. Follow our journey to scale inclusive employment.