IN-FORMS Project
Improving Employability in Sport Through Investigating, Promoting and Supporting Innovative Forms of Employment in Europe
Innovating European sport employment practices to improve the recruitment and retention of skilled workers and create more stable long-term careers for staff.
The IN-FORMS project has been funded under the Erasmus+ Sport Programme of the European Union (Call 2023) and has a duration of 3 years, January 2024 – December 2026.
Background
As European sport evolves, it increasingly needs a highly skilled, inclusive and professional workforce. But recruiting and keeping the right people with the right skills is a massive challenge. Skills shortages are prevalent, and sport – compared to other sectors – has very high levels of part-time and self-employed workers; young people tend to leave the sector early, and many countries have a large undeclared sport workforce. Factors such as seasonal work, small and short-term contracts offered by different employers plus unsocial hours make it hard for people to build rewarding lifetime careers in sport. Research carried out by the EU funded FORMS project, which was also coordinated by EOSE, shows that traditional employment practices based on the one-to-one/employer-employee relationship do not help. New and more flexible forms of employment, such as employee sharing, interim management, platform work and ICT-based mobile work, could provide some of the answers.
Aim
The overarching ambition of IN-FORMS is to support the development of a more professional and responsive sport labour force ready to meet the rapidly evolving needs of the sector.
The project will do this by researching, evaluating and promoting the potential of new forms of employment as one method of addressing skills shortages, staff retention and career progression challenges in sport and design practical tools to help employers, employees and self-employed workers through the process of selecting and implementing these new approaches.
The overall benefits/ impacts of IN-FORMS will be to:
Improve the sector’s understanding of new forms of employment and their potential to address employers’ workforce challenges and offer more rewarding and longer-term career opportunities for employees and the self-employed.
Help policy and decision makers at EU, national, regional and local levels to evaluate the potential benefits and risks of new forms of employment, adapt their policies accordingly and, if necessary, address legal and regulatory obstacles.
Assist employers, employees and the self-employed to engage with new forms of employment effectively, fairly and ethically through the provision of practical, easily available resources and expert support.
Overall, stimulate the development of a more stable, secure, legally employed and professional sport labour force which can respond flexibly to the needs of the rapidly evolving needs of the sector.
Expected Deliverables
DELIVERABLE 1: European research report on employment challenges and innovative forms of employment in sport
The report will thoroughly examine the employment challenges facing sport, the impact of traditional employment practices on recruitment and retention and the potential of new forms of employment to address these issues.
DELIVERABLE 2: Policy recommendation papers on employment challenges and potential use of innovative forms of employment in sport
These recommendations will be aimed at sport policymakers at European, national, regional and local levels on new forms of employment and how they can help to address recruitment and retention whilst protecting workers’ rights and promoting legal employment and social inclusion.
DELIVERABLE 3: Practical ‘roadmaps’ for sport employers, employees and the self-employed
These roadmaps will help employers, employees and the self-employed to better understand new forms of employment and will explain the process of implementing them in a way that supports flexibility as well as fair and ethical employment.
DELIVERABLE 4: An online digital toolkit on innovative forms of employment
This will be the first-ever online resource which will guide organisations and individuals through the process of identifying their need for employment innovation, choosing the new form of employment most appropriate to their needs and guiding them through implementation, supported by good practice guidance and case studies.
DELIVERABLE 5: An online capacity-building course to create national experts in new forms of employment
This online and reusable course will train a selection of national colleagues in Member States to become national Employment Innovation Experts and become points of contact in their own countries to share information and provide support and practical guidance to organisations and individuals about new forms of employment and how they can be applied in their national contexts.
DELIVERABLE 6: A European online Conference on innovative forms of employment and potential use in the sport sector
This will be the first-ever conference on new forms of employment in sport and will be targeted at influential sport sector stakeholders to review the project’s research, recommendations and practical outputs and identify key actions for sustainability.
DELIVERABLE 7: A Dissemination and Sustainability Action Plan
This will create a series of recommendations, key actions, timelines and responsibilities aimed at ensuring the sustainability of IN-FORMS outputs for a minimum of three years after the project closes.
Partnership
Coordinated by the European Observatoire of Sport and Employment (EOSE), IN-FORMS brings together 12 stakeholders including employers’ organisations, sport federations, a government ministry, research institutes and universities across 10 countries to make the project’s planned aims, objectives and activities a reality and with the networks to disseminate and promote new forms of employment in sport at all levels.
The partnership gathers a mix of organisations with strong interest and expertise in employment innovation in sport. This consortium will ensure the innovative outputs are developed in line with the realities and expectations of the sector and can be sustained in the long term.
IN-FORMS Library
IN-FORMS Leaflet
IN-FORMS leaflet
English
IN-FORMS leaflet
Greek
IN-FORMS leaflet
Albanian
IN-FORMS leaflet
Polish
IN-FORMS leaflet
Dutch
IN-FORMS leaflet
Portuguese
IN-FORMS leaflet
Flemish
IN-FORMS leaflet
Romanian
IN-FORMS leaflet
French
IN-FORMS leaflet
Swedish
Latest News
New Erasmus+ Sport initiative on innovative forms of employment officially launched (IN-FORMS)
Utrecht, Netherlands – The kick-off meeting on April 11-12 launched the pivotal three-year IN-FORMS project, an initiative co-ordinated by EOSE and funded by the European Commission under the Erasmus+ sport programme aimed at innovating employment in the European...
Contact
Need to know more about the IN-FORMS project?
Willing to take part in the dissemination and consultation process?
Interested in working with the IN-FORMS project partners or share ideas/suggestions/good practice?
Get in touch, we will get back to you as soon as possible.
