The available amount is significantly higher than the EUR 15 million available for 2019 and marks a sharp increase over the EUR 9 million originally announced in December.

The community work placement programme targets those who have been jobless for at least a year.

It is seen as one of the pillars of employment policy, as the share of the long-term unemployed among all jobless has been rising in recent years as overall unemployment has dropped.

Slovenian companies are already struggling to find qualified staff and community work placement is one way of helping the long-term unemployed enter the labour market again.