Centre for Labour Market and Equal Opportunities

Director: Dr. Róbert Tésits, PhD, habil.

The Center considers it a priority task to explore the processes and causes that have emerged in the internal and regional structure of employment during the restructuring process. Within the spatial disparities, it is of paramount importance for us to get our students acquainted with the initiatives that can reduce exclusion and increase integration opportunities. In line with the mainstream of European employment and regional policy, in addition to the demographic groups (the elderly and the young), we attach an important role to examine the regional opportunities of the Roma, the disabled, the disadvantaged and the women. Beyond the flexible (non-standard) forms of employment in the private sector, we examine the regional effectiveness of the opportunities offered to disadvantaged areas and social groups by the public/non-profit sector (social economy, social cooperatives, public employment programs). However, compared to job creation programs, we find the spatial-econometric and empirical analysis of employability even more important, which is one of our priority projects.

In 2006, we launched the Regional Labour Market Planner, Demography and Regional Social Advisor specializations. In the past few years, the process has been intensified during which the employment of graduate youth has become more and more difficult. The establishment of a center built on the cooperation of the Institute of Geography and the Department of Sociology was a significant step in the reduction of this tendency. It is just because, in our institutions, education and research of spatial processes related to social disadvantages and labor market have become integral part of the activity in the previous years.