Project news
Edit 17 September 2021
by NEXTGEN MICROCITIES PROJECT TEAM

LIVIN as a tool to attract new specialists in Ventspils city

Livin ventspils cover
Attracting highly qualified specialists in Latvian municipalities has always been a topical issue. Attracting qualified specialists in smaller cities is a challenge in Latvia and other European Union countries. Ventspils is a city that provides support to the existing residents of Ventspils and the new Ventspils residents and those Latvians abroad who want to return to their homeland.

The project aims to attract 100 highly qualified specialists in ICT and other fields necessary for the city. To achieve that, in May 2019, a LIVIN contact point was established in Ventspils. Its main tasks are to attract new residents to Ventspils, provide information on current issues, and work with remigrants on return opportunities in Latvia Ventspils. With the established LIVIN contact point, 103 specialists with families, a total of 160 people, have already been attracted to the city of Ventspils. Of these, 31 people have returned to Ventspils from abroad.

Thinking about the availability of information to the general public, in May 2020, a unique website was launched - www.livinventspils.lv, which integrates solutions for job search, research into education, housing, business support opportunities, and other services. The site is intended for placing housing advertisements, too. www.livinventspils.lv is available in Latvian, English, and Russian. The job search solutions integrated into the website are beneficial for both Ventspils employers and employees. Employers can add current job advertisements, access the specialist database, receive applications electronically, evaluate and assign specific status to the applications submitted by employees. However, employees can add information about themselves and apply for vacancies using the benefits of the site.

The number of views of the website exceeds 50 000. The average time a user spends on the website is almost 3 minutes, 67.26% of the site visitors are from Latvia, 2.26% from the USA, 1.86% from the UK, 1.07% from Germany, and the other 27.55% from other countries, such as Russia, France and other. Currently, 53 Ventspils companies and Ventspils municipal institutions have registered on the platform, and a total of 365 vacancies have been added. This platform is designed to be adaptable to other small European cities.

A community of young Ventspils residents has been established by regularly organizing various thematic meetings, uniting people, and making Ventspils a welcoming and open place to anyone who wants to move here. This community is meant to integrate young residents and remigrants into the new environment.

There have already been 4 events where more than 160 people gathered. Such measures allow us to conclude that the necessary adaptation time in a new city is at least 2 years for people to settle down and get used to the new conditions and environment.

Specific marketing events have been developed to advertise the contact point by participating in various events and activities. Bearing Ventspils' good name in Latvia and in the world is done with informing about the opportunities and advantages provided by the city of Ventspils.

infographiuc livin

For more information, please visit www.livinventspils.lv and Facebook: @livinventspils.

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