Pasta-making company in Gemer as work integration enterprise

With a population of over 850 and an unemployment rate of more than 35%, the municipality of Gemer, situated in the south of the district of Revuca, ranked in 2015 as one of the least-developed districts in Slovakia. Apart from a high rate of unemployment, these district also struggle with a high percentage of long-term unemployment. Job seekers often have only a primary education, and either have never developed or have not retained work habits, which means they lack the skills and qualifications needed for the labour market and as a result, they oftentimes become unemployable.
A social enterprise would ensure these job applicants acquire skills required for the labour marked and thus find a suitable job.
The local mayor of Gemer, Zoltán Jankóšik, envisions lowering the high local unemployment rate by providing local community services to the inhabitants of the greater municipality and by creating new business opportunities. The municipal social enterprise produces pasta. The primary goal of a social enterprise is not to maximise profits at the expense of the employee but to integrate the employee into the workplace, earning profits is secondary.
The municipal enterprise operates as a social integration enterprise aimed at employing disadvantaged and vulnerable groups. Social enterprises also play a socialising role since the target group is often socially excluded. Since 2018, it has employed five women who produce an average of 80kg of high quality pasta every day.