Working Links, specialists in helping long-term unemployed and disadvantaged people back into work, is using its experience to help set up Activo Humano - a joint venture company formed to help address Chile's problems with unemployment.

Working Links' intention is to create a public-private partnership with the Chilean government that will eventually be self-sustaining. The company, Activo Humano, will pitch for government contracts, sell its services to employers and franchise out the model, so that branches can be established across Chile.

The four-month pilot starts in May and will be handled by Jules Blackwell, who has been with Working Links in Yorkshire and the East Midlands for the past three years. Jules moved to Chile on 5 April to get the project up and running.

Keith Faulkner, Working Links managing director, says the long-term unemployment problems faced in Chile aren't dissimilar from those faced by UK jobseekers. "By applying our knowledge and innovative approach to the situation in Chile we aim to put in place the schemes and initiatives necessary to tackle the problems."
 
* See the new look Recruiter out today (May 2) for more details about Working Links’ projects in the UK