EXTENDED SUMMARY

In recent years, as in the world, active employment policies instead of passive employment policies have gained an urgent character in the struggle against unemployment in Turkey. Active employment policies, which select disadvantaged groups that are relatively more vulnerable in the labor market as the target group, include a series of practices that are expected to serve both the fight against unemployment and the increase in employment by improving the quality and skill levels of individuals. Today, the need has arisen to determine the extent of the effects of active employment policies in combating unemployment and creating employment and to evaluate them in order to provide them with a more effective and efficient content. Impact assessment studies, which are generally carried out at local level, are important in terms of explaining the effects of active employment policies on the labor market and employment.

The main purpose of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of vocational training courses on employment, which are included in active employment policies, in Aydın Province. In the study conducted for this purpose, semi-experimental technique from quantitative research designs was used to make effect assessment. The population of the study consists of the people who benefited from the AIPP from Aydın İŞKUR between 2014-2017 and the unemployed people registered in the same period. ‘On-the-Job Training Program’ (IEP), ‘Vocational Training Courses Without Employment Guarantee’ (İSMEK) and ‘Specialized Skills Acquisition Centers (UMEM) Project’ within the AIPP were discussed. . ‘Working for the Benefit of Society’ and ‘Entrepreneurship Courses’ were excluded from the research due to their differences in content and functioning with other programs, although they are included in the AIPP. Between 2014 and 2017, two groups consisting of 200 people who graduated from IEP, İSMEK and UMEM (experimental group) and 200 people who did not attend vocational training courses in the same year (control group) were formed. A questionnaire was preferred as a data collection tool in order to determine the variables of the studied group such as employment, wages and insurance and to reach the opinions on vocational training courses in the fastest way.

According to the research findings:

• It has been determined that AIPPs do not have an impact on employment in Aydın province and do not reach the entire target group.

• It has been determined that there is no significant relationship between participation in AIPP and employment.

• It has been determined that AIPP has more positive effects on women in employment participation compared to men, and a significant relationship has been found between participation in AIPP and women’s employment.

• When evaluated on the basis of gender, a significant relationship was found between the type of courses attended by women and employment. In terms of course types, it was determined in qualitative findings that the participants attending in MEK were predominantly women and that the purpose of participation was to socialize rather than employment.

• A significant relationship was not found between the participation of the young population between the ages of 15-24 in the AIPP and their employment.

• In the study, a significant relationship was found between employment channels and participation in AIPP. It is possible to characterize the fact that the graduates of the vocational training courses experience the role that İŞKUR has assumed in the market and start to use it actively as a positive step to overcome the current incomplete information problem of the market.

• In line with the needs of the labor market in Aydın Province, IEP was the most opened course type and it was determined that IEP had a more positive effect on job creation compared to other course types. In the short term, a significant relationship was found between participation in AIPP and employment, and it was found proportionally that IEP was more effective among course types than other course types. In the long term, participation in the AIPP has had a positive impact only on women. When education levels and skill levels improve, it can be said that women’s participation in the labor market increases and their employment is positively affected.

• Another issue that draws attention in the research is the relationship between the education levels of the people in the study group and their employment. From a statistical point of view, no significant relationship was found between all education levels and employment. The employment status of individuals with high school and equivalent education level and associate/undergraduate education level in the total of the whole working group was parallel. In numerical terms, it was seen that the employment of the people in the experimental group and who graduated from associate / undergraduate degrees was higher than the control group. It can be said that education level is a relatively sought-after criterion in employment in the labor market of Aydın Province.

• Trainees criticized their inability to benefit from long-term insurance branches, their employment without any training in the jobs they entered through AIPPs and the fact that they were employed in different jobs instead of the workplace determined during the recruitment process. It was determined that those who had not attended the course were not aware of the AIPPs carried out by İŞKUR.

In order to contribute to future studies, it should be noted that the AIPP can be included in the research in detail in which sectors and business sizes are used intensively and why employers prefer this program can be examined in detail. Cost-benefit analysis of the resources allocated to AIPP can be added to the impact assessment. Because one of the reasons for the emergence of active employment policies is the high costs of passive employment policies, while AIPPs offered to employers by the public can be abused by employers, and as stated by the participants in their statements in qualitative findings, they can be seen as an input used only to reduce labor costs without training. In order to prevent this, detailed outputs on both increasing audits and cost-benefit analysis can be obtained on possible reforms in programs and balancing public expenditures. At the point of reaching the target audience of AIPP, İŞKUR may carry out studies on the promotion of programs especially for the young population between the ages of 15-24.