The Welcome Work project consortium, co-funded by the European Union’s Erasmus+ programme, led by Career Plus (Poland) and comprising six organisations from five European countries, including the Fundación Laboral de la Construcción, has launched the Mobile Training App, a resource designed to support refugees and new arrivals in the sector as they enter the labour market, whilst helping to meet the growing demand for construction professionals.

This tool has been designed to provide a flexible and accessible resource, tailored to people who, in many cases, access the content via their mobile phones and have different levels of digital and language skills. Its intuitive design allows users to access a range of content in a simple and personalised way.

Training opportunities to facilitate access to employment

The Welcome Work app brings together content designed to support future workers as they enter the construction industry. Its main resources include a glossary of frequently used terms, a phrasebook to aid communication in the workplace, interactive checklists, and content relating to health and safety, as well as common tasks on a building site.

The aim is to reduce some of the main barriers to accessing employment, such as a lack of knowledge of technical vocabulary, regulatory differences between the country of origin and the host country, or a lack of information on how the sector operates in the new country.

Artificial Intelligence for answering queries in real time

One of the app’s most notable features is its virtual chat assistant, powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), which provides information on entering the labour market.

Thanks to its clear and accessible language, the assistant makes technical concepts easier to understand and provides information to people with limited knowledge of the local language, helping to improve their autonomy during the job-seeking process. It also offers help in drafting a CV tailored to the role being applied for, thereby facilitating access to employment.

A comprehensive strategy for entering the labour market

The Mobile Training App is part of a set of resources developed as part of the European Welcome Work project to promote the inclusion of refugees in the labour market within the construction sector.

Alongside the Mobile Training App, the project provides various professionals with a Trainers’ Guide, a Compendium of Good Practices featuring 18 success studies and a Starter Kit to support the inclusion and promote the training of refugees.

The Starter Kit is a practical resource designed as a step-by-step digital guide for professionals, organisations and entities that support people who have moved to a new country throughout their journey towards finding employment in the construction sector.

Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Foundation for the Development of the Education System (FRSE). Neither the European Union nor FRSE can be held responsible for them.