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ICF Factor 02 / 06 · Work
A city that prepares its people
Murcia does not train people simply to earn qualifications: it trains them to secure employment. The three programmes in this Factor are not isolated initiatives, but a continuous pathway that supports a person from their first contact with the labour market through to stable employment in a company.
54,93 %
Job placement rate for mixed employment-and-training programmes
+6.000
Active agreements with companies
80 %
Employment after completing Dual Vocational Training
1.200
People qualified in the last year
−4,54 %
Unemployment in the last year: the lowest in a decade
What Work means
Retaining talent is infrastructure, not rhetoric
For the Intelligent Community Forum, a community progresses when it turns education and training into quality employment. Murcia identified a specific gap: unemployed people and local companies were failing to connect, while university graduates had strong theoretical foundations but lacked the experience employers required.
The answer was not to offer more courses, but to change who provides the training. Across all three programmes, the company —or the City Council itself— stops being merely the final destination and becomes an active training environment, with an employment contract and social protection from day one.
Training
Level 1, 2 and 3 Professional Certificates, valid throughout the European Union.
Skills
Communication, adaptability, emotional intelligence and leadership, now just as decisive as technical knowledge.
Employment
Direct job-matching by the Municipal Employment Agency with the local business community.
Cross-cutting layer
Artificial intelligence and digital twins enter this Factor as learning tools: trainees practise on a virtual replica before operating the real machine.
01 — A second chance with a contract
Mixed employment-and-training programmes
The City Council hires participants from day one, pays them a salary and enables them to learn by working on projects with a direct impact on the city. Because they are employed, participants pay into social security, receive social protection and build a genuine professional pathway.
Pillar 01
Earn while learning
Between 25% and 40% of the time is theoretical training; the rest is real work on public works and municipal services. Having a contract from day one dramatically reduces dropout among the most vulnerable groups.
Pillar 02
Apprentice Schools
For people under 30 with no previous experience: a twelve-month apprenticeship contract in which the City Council acts as their first formal employer, breaking the “experience required” barrier.
Method
Psychosocial mentoring
Municipal staff work on habits, teamwork and conflict resolution. The aim is not only to gain a certificate, but to develop the professional maturity needed to integrate into a company.
Return
A double benefit
The participant rebuilds their career path; the city receives urban maintenance and public-benefit services carried out by programme cohorts themselves.
Four priority sectors
Green economy01
Green economy
Maintenance linked to Plan Foresta and waste management. The green transition becomes a source of employment, not merely an environmental objective.
02
Digitalisation
Technical support for electronic administration, 3D modelling and municipal data management. The smart-city ecosystem itself generates the skills profiles it needs.
03
Social and healthcare services
A response to demographic change and dependency. A sector with growing structural demand and persistent recruitment difficulties.
04
Construction and rehabilitation
Urban regeneration in outlying districts and peripheral neighbourhoods, including heritage restoration using energy-efficiency techniques.
2,5 M€
Budget delivered in the last year.
70
Certified training activities delivered.
38 %
Increase in annual hiring in the municipality.
+23.000
Registered unemployed people targeted by the programme.
02 — The university route into employment
COIE: university and business in the same pathway
The University of Murcia's Career Guidance, Information and Employment Centre serves a community of more than 30,000 students. Its role is not simply to provide information: it builds a stable system of guidance, placements and support so that talent trained here is not forced to leave for opportunities elsewhere.
Pillar 01 · Placements
One of southeastern Spain's strongest placement programmes, with two routes: curricular placements that keep degree programmes connected to the productive sector, and extracurricular placements of up to 750 hours per academic year —almost five months of full-time immersion. Everything is tracked through the GIPE platform, which matches employer demand with student profiles.
Pillar 02 · Skills
Digital identity and personal branding, cross-cutting skills highlighted by Murcia's technology companies —distributed leadership, assertive communication and applied emotional intelligence— plus preparation for competency-based recruitment processes and virtual interviews.
Pillar 03 · Senior mentoring
Personalised pathways connect each student's vocation with high-demand local sectors —biochemistry, agricultural technology and digital services— and match students with active senior professionals.
78,1 %
Employment rate among graduates using these services; 100% in health sciences.
63,7 %
Secure permanent contracts; placements are the main route in.
26,2 %
Earn salaries above the national average for their field.
4,8 / 5
Satisfaction with guidance programmes among both students and companies.
03 — Industrial talent
Industrial Dual Vocational Training with FREMM
The company stops being merely the final hiring destination and becomes a training centre. At least 33% of the curriculum —between 660 and 800 effective hours— takes place inside a real company, with a stipend and social-security contributions from day one.
Hub 01
Paid participation
Unlike unpaid placements, here the company pays the student a monthly amount equivalent to 80% of the IPREM reference index and covers social-security contributions. The student stops being “the intern” and becomes a professional in training.
Hub 02
Simulation and digital twins
FREMM's integrated vocational-training centre includes virtual replicas of assembly lines and smart-warehouse simulators. Students practise on the digital twin before operating real machinery: less risk and faster adaptation.
Hub 03
Mentoring and quality assurance
The Chamber of Commerce trains and accredits company tutors in assessment and monitoring methodologies. This is the mechanism that ensures the workplace serves a strictly educational purpose.
Sectors
Metalworking, logistics and agri-food
Automation, welding, Industry 4.0, energy and mechanical manufacturing: fields where demand for qualified technical profiles is constant and generational renewal is urgent.
80 %
Secure a contract immediately after finishing; 90% in metalworking and industrial automation.
70 %
Remain permanently with the company where they trained.
+1.200
Companies in the municipality integrated into the dual system.
40 %
Greater immediate productivity than the traditional model, with no adjustment period.
“Murcia does more than train professionals: it builds life pathways. That is the kind of progress an Intelligent Community puts at the centre.”
Stakeholders
Who makes this Factor possible
The three programmes are coordinated under the Municipal Employment and Economic Promotion Plan 2024–2027, which prevents them from operating as parallel, disconnected initiatives.
Funding
Public co-financing and employer contributions
Documentation and services
Go to source
Projects in this Factor
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