In the context of the Professional Enhancement and Business Qualification, the Government of the Azores has already started a procedure for the hearing of the Permanent Strategic Agreement Commission in order to extend professional training programmes to the unemployed university degrees as well as training strategies, including the balance of skills and the qualification actions of the Valorizar Network.

These measures were announced in response to a request made by the opposition at the Azorean Parliament, in which the Regional Government reiterated the importance of providing professional qualification to the Azorean population and the effort that has been undertaken in the approval of courses which the Government recommends workers on layoff to attend even though the labour legislation does not require workers in this specific situation to attend training courses.

In addition to the approved courses which were specifically designed for these workers under the Pro-Emprego programme, 1730 courses have been created by the Regional Government, involving a total of 20,750 workers.

According to the information submitted to the Parliament, during 2010 the total number of workers on layoff was 127, of whom 22 were involved in more than one layoff situation. In this context, the Regional Inspectorate of Labour has made 48 inspection visits to the companies involved.