Workshop on “Career Development and Major Choices in the Post-Pandemic Era” Held in Partnership Between Azerbaijan and Turkey

The workshop themed “Career Development and Main Choices in Post-Pandemic Period” which was organised with the partnership between Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR) and State Employment Service of Azerbaijan (DMA) started with the opening speeches delivered by Mr. Mustafa Abbasbeyli, the Chairman of the Board of the State Employment Service of Azerbaijan and Mr. Oğuz Kağan Güldoğan, our Director General.

The impact of COVID-19 on career development, new options for career developments in line with skill needs changing after the pandemic, and the changing choices of jobseekers were discussed in the online workshop organised under the umbrella of the World Association of Public Employment Services (WAPES).

Our Director General Mr. Güldoğan Expresses the Importance of Retaining Employment

In his opening speech, stating that unemployment is one of the most challenging problems for governments after the problems in the field of health, Mr. Güldoğan said “The increasing importance of policies for retaining and increasing employment has increased the strategic importance of public employment institutions. In this field, countries that take measures rapidly and apply these measures actively will overcome these difficult times with the lowest losses. Active and passive labour market measures such as short-time working, unemployment benefit, on-the-job training and career guidance become more important.”

Mr. Abbasbeyli, pointing out that the world has struggled with COVID-19 for almost two years, said that “Negative conditions of the pandemic caused by COVID-19 carried labour market to a completely different format and transformed towards distance and online working. This situation has become a great difficulty for all of us.”

Presentation on Career Guidance and Counselling Services made by our Agency

In the continuation of the workshop, in presentations made by Mr. François Dumora, representative of International Labour Organisation (ILO) and employment expert in the field of career counselling and Mr. Toghrul Alakbarov, Head of DMA Career Guidance Department, besides global approaches on career counselling, remote access opportunities coming with technological transformation public employment services have undergone, new service delivery models and changing approaches and behaviour forms of people were assessed.

Experiences of our country on career guidance and counselling services and innovative studies of our Agency in this field were shared with participant countries through a comprehensive presentation made by Mr. Ramazan Beğboğa, Employment Expert working in our Department of Job and Vocational Counselling. After the presentations, the workshop was completed together with the discussion session in which questions of the participants were answered and experiences related to other countries were shared.