Daugavpils offers free bus driver courses as layoffs hit nearly 300

The company Liepājas autobusu parks is offering free bus driver courses in Daugavpils to recruit staff, but none of the nearly 300 people affected by collective layoffs in the city have applied, LSM reported, citing Latgale Regional Television.

The first group of six people is currently training for the bus driver profession. One of them, Māris Ziemelis, said he wanted a change after working at the same job for many years and had taken advantage of the opportunity to obtain a free category D driving licence.

Another participant, Andris Jevsejevs, said employers in Latgale often looked for people with experience, making the chance to learn a new profession free of charge significant.

Interest in the training has been higher than initially expected, according to Liepājas autobusu parks board chairman Guntis Mincis. The company has signed four agreements, received slightly more than 50 calls and held detailed discussions with 20 people. It currently needs several dozen drivers.

Two companies in Daugavpils have laid off about 300 people, raising the city’s unemployment rate by 0.2 percentage points to 6%. The city currently has 444 vacancies, with an average of 6.5 unemployed people competing for each job.

As of July 31, Daugavpils had 2,899 registered unemployed people, said Jurate Kornutjaka, head of the city branch of the State Employment Agency. The most popular fields in Daugavpils are manufacturing, construction, transport, healthcare and services.

Liepājas autobusu parks also holds the courses in Russian because many people in Daugavpils have weak Latvian-language skills. Jevsejevs said Latvian proficiency could be a barrier, as the company Nordbus requires knowledge of the state language for the work, which involves travelling throughout Latvia.