2. National survey: Croatia

Cross Border Seminar "Hope in times of uncertainty"
National survey: Croatia
(by Euroguidance Croatia)

Factors causing uncertainty for individuals making career decisions

As we are all faced with similar challenges on the global scale, it could be said the sources and/or causes of career uncertainty are multifaceted. The world labour market has been hit by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and related measures, technological advancements, environmental (un)sustainability, war crisis and what appears to be a looming severe recession with economic, financial and other societal and psychological consequences. It is understandable that all these comprise a pressing issue for a majority of the population and something that is beyond personal control. What we can try to manage and control is our own response to it and enhance overall preparedness. Therefore, while governments can aid and somewhat ameliorate the impact of the crisis through different avenues of support (e.g. fiscal policy, subsidies for job preservation and so forth), what can be done on a personal level is to build up and strengthen individual resources and resilience. 

The situation on the labour market is changing more rapidly than ever, and with forecasts of upcoming challenges, it is crucial to provide individuals and groups with coping tools and mechanisms and nourish the state of hope. This is especially important when dealing with clients face to face, and is undeniably a responsibility from the professional and ethical point of view for practitioners in career guidance and the lifelong learning field. Special attention needs to be targeted towards young people and NEETs, as on the EU level, so in Croatia (Impact of COVID-19 on young people in the EU; Eurofound, 2021). 

Proposed measures include the reduction of inequalities among generations, raising awareness on the importance of mental health, flexibility in service delivery (outreach and counselling), preparing for a possible future crisis by improving service delivery and prioritising long-term measures over temporary solutions. On the national level, these goals are implemented in the current Youth Guarantee campaign. Croatia has been implementing the Youth Guarantee since 2013, in accordance with the Recommendation of the EU Council. The Youth Guarantee is a comprehensive and multi-stakeholder approach to tackling youth unemployment. One of the elements of the Youth Guarantee is the provision of job search support and the implementation of active employment policy measures implemented by the Croatian Employment Service - CES. 

In addition, the Institute for Social Research in Zagreb in cooperation with the Croatian Ministry of Science and Education conducted a research-developmental project entitled “National monitoring of the effects of the COVID-19 disease pandemic and the 2020 earthquake on the organisation of educational processes and the well-being of pupils and educational workers in the Republic of Croatia”. In the project, 161 primary and secondary schools were examined from all parts of Croatia. Some of the thematic areas included in the project are as follows: the ways in which the coronavirus pandemic influenced the lives of pupils in Croatia; aspects of lives of children and youth that were particularly affected; how pupils view classroom teaching and learning in comparison to remote teaching and learning; how teachers assess pupils’ educational losses since the beginning of the pandemic; how educational workers see the psychological and emotional state of pupils. 

While students reported that their relationships with close friends and family members had not been badly affected (if anything, the effect was positive), negative impacts had been felt in relation to physical activities and playing sports, their plans for the future and out-of-school activities and hobbies. The greatest perceived negative impact, however, was the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on their mental health, with more than half of 18-year-olds claiming its effect was negative or very negative. 

Furthermore, the Agency for Science and Higher Education conducted research on the impact of pandemic circumstances on the study experience in the academic year 2020/2021, such as online and/or hybrid teaching and various restrictions in social life. Almost 4,300 students of all levels except postgraduate, answered questions about how they assess the quality of higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic, how satisfied they are with certain aspects of student life, how they assess their mental health and how the pandemic affected freshmen students and their adaptation to higher education. The results of the research showed that the transition to online forms of teaching during the pandemic significantly affected the mental health of students, their social inclusion, study experience and quality of life. 

Other challenges include the ageing of the population, skills mismatch and worker shortages alongside with shifting to jobs with green and digital technologies (or in broader terms – the 4th industrial revolution). Relevant publications that study these challenges are: Gender gaps and the employment structure (Eurofound and Joint Research Centre, 2021), Green growth, jobs and social impacts (Directorate-General for Environment, EC, 2021), Upskilling and reskilling in the post-covid era: fostering new services and jobs creation: three scenarios for 2030: final report (Empirica et al., 2021), The future of jobs is green (Joint Research Centre, 2021).

Approaches for helping clients deal with uncertainty and for helping career practitioners manage stress


CES has developed different, but also interconnected avenues through which measures are delivered, so individuals and groups can manage job uncertainty better. CES implements numerous longstanding but constantly updated active labour market policy (ALMP) measures, some of which are those concerning (vocational) training, i.e., workplace training, training subsidies and training of the unemployed and employed (reskilling, upskilling). 

One of the most important new measures related to the transition to the digital / green economy that will be implemented within the Croatian National Recovery and Resilience Plan (HR – NPOO) is the implementation of education through the voucher system, in the period from April 2022 to June 2026 with the primary aim of raising the percentage of participants in adult education and lifelong learning, while at the same time acting as the support mechanism in the transition process to the green and digital economy. Vouchers for education are awarded to individuals for further education programmes, with the purpose of attaining micro or partial qualifications for green and/or digital skills. The planned 30,000 vouchers are to be awarded to employees and the unemployed, including young people, the long-term unemployed and the inactive. 

Furthermore, it is important to emphasise that in the CES, comprehensive career guidance services are provided through local offices and as well in CISOK (Lifelong Career Guidance) centres. CISOK centres stand out in this service provision as they are open to provide easily-accessible services to a wider range of the population (any group) and in the meantime promote and maintain successful cooperation with different stakeholders (schools, universities, NGOs, employers etc.). Through the aforementioned National Recovery and Resilience Plan, there is also a currently ongoing project concerning the expansion and reorganisation of the existing CISOK network with emphasis on their role in attracting NEETs. New CISOK centres will be opened in counties where they are not currently present, new individualised services and web services will be developed and capacity and skills of advisors in centres will be strengthened. 

Lifelong career guidance services help so that the career decisions are both in alignment with the personal interests of users and also taking into account labour market needs and career prospects. The services are wide-ranging and tailor-made to suit the needs of different target groups. Special attention is given to vulnerable groups and persons at risk of social and economic exclusion (e.g. NEETs, long-term unemployed, persons from less developed areas, women, minorities and others). 

Questions for guidance practitioners: what sort of approaches do you use to help clients who are dealing with career uncertainty? What sort of approaches do you use to help yourself deal with work uncertainty related stress? 

Clients are provided with all the necessary information about the labour market, their rights and possibilities of being included in certain measures and are helped in the process of job search/career management. Through individual and group activities, lectures and workshops, soft skills are improved, networking is encouraged, proactivity is stimulated and necessary support is provided. During the coronavirus pandemic (and after) we expanded our communication tools to online platforms (e.g. Zoom, Teams…). In a short time we approached numerous clients, especially pupils and students, and were able to give them all the necessary individual and group support, through the activity of vocational informing and counselling. 

At CES, career guidance advisors are mostly psychologists and pedagogists, so it is important to keep up to date with the latest research and approaches in the field, exchange knowledge and practices among colleagues and other practitioners. Also, since the workload is significant, making mental strain a real threat to personal wellbeing, it is advised to attend professional meetings, learn new skills, use informing, debriefing and supervision, especially when or after dealing with challenging situations. With that in mind, it is clear that the practitioners need to have a vigilant and proactive attitude and re(build) our social capital - professional and personal networks of support to better cope with uncertainty. For stress management, we can utilise the method of setting positive, but realistic goals. Training oneself to also see possibilities instead of only risky uncertainty gives us positive vision and generates much needed enthusiasm and creativity. To conclude, the best way to deal with uncertainty and change is to continuously invest in preparedness resources and hence be more inclined to adapt to any change.