WASHINGTON DC, May 2, 2025 – The World Bank today approved an additional financing for Argentina to improve job placement and access to quality jobs for the unemployed through the expansion of training and job search services.
The project “Promoting Better Jobs with Integrated Labor and Skills Programs” (US$230 million) supports the Fomentar Empleo and Volver al Trabajo programs, implemented by the Secretariat of Labor, Employment, and Social Security (STESS).
“Argentina is investing in training its workforce and generating more and better jobs. In the next ten years, 1.9 million young people will reach productive age while technological advances are complicating the career paths of people in their prime working years,” said Marianne Fay, World Bank Director for Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay. “Programs like Fomentar Empleo and Volver al Trabajo aim to improve opportunities for accessing formal employment and thus build a better future for Argentinians throughout their lives.”
Since its creation, more than 400,000 people have participated in the Fomentar Empleo program. In addition, with the launch of the Employment Portal, 1.7 million people registered to seek formal employment and training and career guidance courses, and more than 7,500 companies posted their job vacancies.
Moreover, the program trained more than 2,000 employees of municipal employment offices and created the Argentine Occupational Observatory (OOA), which allows for the analysis and monitoring of the labor market, informing the design of interventions to address employers' needs.
In this new stage, it is expected that more than 800,000 unemployed people will receive training and job search services or enroll in the Volver al Trabajo program. Among the courses they can take, support will be offered for the certification of basic socio-labor competencies and self-employment.
The project has a variable margin, is repayable in 32 years, and has a grace period of 7 years.
