EURES Helpdesk’s "human dimension" the key to effective problem-solving

For many jobseekers and employers, EURES is a web tool for exploring the opportunities offered by the European labour market. To keep the EURES Portal operating effectively, intensive behind-the-scenes work is necessary. Here we talk to the EURES Helpdesk coordinator Evi Guinou who, alongside her team in Luxembourg, works to ensure that users' portal-related problems are resolved effectively. The EURES Helpdesk is a hub of activity, with five front-line operators dealing with all types of EURES portal-related queries. Evi's team strives to provide an efficient service and aims to resolve users' technical problems within a few minutes. As she notes, the Helpdesk is in many ways the "eyes and ears" of EURES. Evi's team provides a refreshing human voice to assist portal users when things go wrong. Her highly motivated team is "driven by the knowledge that we can make users' lives easier and help to improve the EURES service." Indeed, at a time when "unemployment remains one of the most pressing issues in Europe", all Helpdesk operators are well-aware that their work plays a key part in the broader effort to help European jobseekers. The team's passion is reinforced by their own personal affinity to the user problems they deal with. "All questions about job mobility in the EU/EEA, including social security, taxation and so forth, are issues that each of us can directly relate to in our personal lives." Ultimately, for Evi, the human dimension of the EURES Helpdesk is key to the service it provides. "Users' problems and queries often concern us on a human level and, by understanding their needs and concerns, we're best placed to resolve their issues.

"To help us in our work, we would like to invite all EURES actors to contact us in case they have questions or problems regarding the EURES portal, their EURES account or any other EURES services-related issue."

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