Pages: 181-190
Introduction. Volunteering is one of the ways to optimize social cohesion, sustainable integration into the labor market, through the creation of the necessary framework for acquiring specific skills and competencies. It will prepare the citizens to face and adapt smoothly to the dynamic changes from the socio-economic environment. The European Union sustain the volunteers by promoting cross-border volunteering and their mobility, in order to develop a European identity, intercultural learning and creativity, by using efficient and effective the limited resources.
Aim of the study. The aim of the paper is to briefly analyze the ways in which volunteering, education and innovation contribute to achieve the European Union objective related to the employment rate. The authors achieved the objective of the paper by using a quantitative method. In the last decades, in Europe, the demand for highly skilled jobs has increased, also directly proportional the employment rate for the people with a high degree of education, endowed with the necessary abilities and competencies for the knowledge society. The paper highlights that volunteering represents an opportunity to gain new competencies and skills, by enabling the transformation of this knowledge into economic and social innovation which leads to productivity and creation of highly qualified jobs.
Keywords: volunteering, employment rate, innovation, education
JEL Classification: O35, A13, J21
