The money will come from the European Social Fund and the Ministry of Labour, said the fund for public scholarship, development, disability and maintenance.

The project is designed to encourage older workers to stay on the labour market longer and to cut workers' average days of sick leave.

It also aims to result in developing jobs and working environments that are adjusted to older workers.

A total of 15 projects are expected to be selected, up to nine in Slovenia's eastern cohesion region and up to six in the more developed western one.

The money will be available in the budgetary years 2019 and 2020, and all the pilot projects will have to be completed by July 2020.

The fund said employers in several industries are faced with a shortage of staff while Slovenia's population is ageing.

It also noted the number of older workers in Slovenia has increased by over 68% in the past five years, stressing they are an asset that should not be neglected.

The Education Ministry meanwhile published a call to co-fund life-long learning of adults, especially those with lower education and vulnerable groups.

A total of 696,000 euro is available for education programmes in the academic year 2018/2019 year and for entire 2019.