https://doi.org/10.31261/CHOWANNA.2004.23.04
The article addresses the issue of unemployment and the means of supporting unemployed individuals, focusing on assistance programs in the context of 21st-century Polish reality, where unemployment has taken on a permanent character and stabilized at a relatively high level. In this context, the development and implementation of psychological support tools aimed at strengthening the psychophysical condition of individuals on the job market has become increasingly important. The experiences of highly developed countries and Poland’s EU neighbors have demonstrated that the use of comprehensive, modern support and activation programs enhances the effectiveness of assistance provided to individuals at risk of unemployment and social exclusion. The selection of effective support tools is based not only on knowledge of how unemployed individuals experience and respond to their situation but also on a skilled interpretation of labor market analyses, particularly employment rates and unemployment statistics. The assistance provided by a psychologist—who possesses extensive knowledge of the evolving socio-economic landscape—is more effective when used to monitor key trends in the structure of unemployment, identify and define major risk groups, select appropriate counseling tools, develop coherent action programs, measure their effectiveness, and, above all, tailor support methods to the diverse characteristics of target groups. Unemployment structure analysis is conducted based on criteria such as: duration of unemployment, gender, age, education level, entitlement to benefits, work experience, and region. Assistance programs, in turn, are not viewed as a panacea for employment difficulties. In many cases, their primary focus is on engaging participants in social activities and preparing them for change. They require thorough preparation and professional execution. These programs do not guarantee direct, measurable benefits for participants but rather aim to create supportive conditions that help address problems, both immediately and in the long term. During participation in such projects, individuals receive reimbursement for travel expenses, a free meal, and childcare services. The approach and types of tools used are designed to foster a sense of safety and professional support, while avoiding the illusion of inevitable success. EU-funded projects and monitored layoff programs have yet to be standardized. They remain specific to the consulting firms and enterprises that co-implement them. However, one of their greatest strengths—and a common feature of upcoming projects—is the implementation of solutions tailored to the unique characteristics of Polish society and its current reality.
Download files
Citation rules
Cited by / Share
Licence
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The Copyright Owners of the submitted texts grant the Reader the right to use the pdf documents under the provisions of the Creative Commons 4.0 International License: Attribution-Share-Alike (CC BY SA). The user can copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose.
1. License
The University of Silesia Press provides immediate open access to journal’s content under the Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Authors who publish with this journal retain all copyrights and agree to the terms of the above-mentioned CC BY-SA 4.0 license.
2. Author’s Warranties
The author warrants that the article is original, written by stated author/s, has not been published before, contains no unlawful statements, does not infringe the rights of others, is subject to copyright that is vested exclusively in the author and free of any third party rights, and that any necessary written permissions to quote from other sources have been obtained by the author/s.
If the article contains illustrative material (drawings, photos, graphs, maps), the author declares that the said works are of his authorship, they do not infringe the rights of the third party (including personal rights, i.a. the authorization to reproduce physical likeness) and the author holds exclusive proprietary copyrights. The author publishes the above works as part of the article under the licence "Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International".
ATTENTION! When the legal situation of the illustrative material has not been determined and the necessary consent has not been granted by the proprietary copyrights holders, the submitted material will not be accepted for editorial process. At the same time the author takes full responsibility for providing false data (this also regards covering the costs incurred by the University of Silesia Press and financial claims of the third party).
3. User Rights
Under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, the users are free to share (copy, distribute and transmit the contribution) and adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material) the article for any purpose, provided they attribute the contribution in the manner specified by the author or licensor.
4. Co-Authorship
If the article was prepared jointly with other authors, the signatory of this form warrants that he/she has been authorized by all co-authors to sign this agreement on their behalf, and agrees to inform his/her co-authors of the terms of this agreement.
I hereby declare that in the event of withdrawal of the text from the publishing process or submitting it to another publisher without agreement from the editorial office, I agree to cover all costs incurred by the University of Silesia in connection with my application.
Vol. 2 No. 23 (2004)
Published: 2025-08-18
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
English
Język Polski