Dear reader,

Welcome to the latest edition of the Presentation of the ESS, which has been published since 1999. This booklet provides compact information on the work of the ESS in 2005, in particular how it has responded to the rapidly changing labour market. Changes in the external environment demand a fresh wind in such a large organisation as the ESS, and so in the middle of the year I was appointed internally as the head of this the most important institution in the Slovenian labour market. Despite the numerous changes introduced, I can say that 2005 was a successful year for the ESS. The figures also reflect this.

We all know that the main task of the ESS is to contribute directly and indirectly to increasing employment and employability of the population of Slovenia, and in this task the ESS was successful in 2005. Registered unemployment fell in 2005 compared to the previous year by 1% to 91,889 registered unemployed, with the rate of registered unemployment calculated and officially published by SURS standing at 10.2% at the end of 2005. This is 0.1% lower than the average for 2004. For the fourth year in a row, registered unemployment has ended the year below 100,000, while in May and June it was even below 90,000.

Even more pleasing is the fact that 50,483 unemployed people, 515 more than in 2004, found employment through the ESS. Public works employed 3,374 unemployed people. This is undoubtedly a reflection of intensive cooperation with employers - in 2005 we recorded 1,376 direct contacts with employers, 50% more than in 2004.

The structure of unemployment in 2005 differed from expectations, and we must emphasise that the gender structure in particular deteriorated, with the average proportion of women amongst the unemployed increasing to 53.8%. I believe that the targeted reduction of structural unemployment is a long-term process influenced by various factors, and so major shifts cannot happen overnight. To a certain extent, however, the ESS is nevertheless also of assistance here by quality mediation of unemployed people and through the implementation of targeted active employment measures. Such measures in 2005 involved new participation by a total of 182,765 people, 109.4% of the planned level; 18,899 of these were involved in measures co-financed by the European Social Fund. Similarly, great attention was paid to unemployment black spots: some 69% of funding in 2005 was allocated to reducing differences in unemployment rates and thereby also to reducing regional inequality in Slovenia. We must stress the proactive role of the ESS, which has cultivated partnerships on the national, regional and local levels with employers, local communities, private agencies and other social partners, and has promoted employment in a whole series of ways.

The ESS has also made important progress in the area of electronic services, since it has provided certain basic online services to employers, the unemployed and others. Eight new services were introduced in 2005 alone, while more than 58,000 different electronic transactions have been recorded. These figures also outline our work for the future, since we believe that me must continue to develop such services to facilitate cooperation with the ESS and enable our employees to work better and more flexibly. We must press hard to simplify and shorten individual procedures and in particular to adapt our activities to the specific features of the regional labour market to maximise the satisfaction of our service users. In short: I want the ESS to become the best partner of all those with whom we work!

Anka Rode, Acting general director

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