Skills for Quality Jobs and Lives: Inclusive Employment for People with Mental Health Conditions

When we talk about skills for quality jobs and lives, we are not only talking about technical abilities or access to training. We are also talking about dignity, wellbeing, confidence, inclusion and the real possibility of building a sustainable life project through work.

This is especially important for people with mental health conditions, who continue to face significant barriers in the labour market. For many people, the challenge is not only finding a job, but finding one that is stable, meaningful, adapted to their needs and compatible with their wellbeing over time.

This is the starting point of Thriving Jobs, an Erasmus+ project focused on enhancing job quality for people with mental health conditions. The project is based on a clear idea: employment support should not end when a person signs a contract. A truly inclusive employment pathway must also consider job retention, workplace adaptation, professional development, mental health needs and the quality of the working experience itself.

For adult learning and VET professionals, this means looking at employment support not only as preparation for work, but as a process that connects skills, wellbeing, inclusion and long-term participation in society.

From job access to quality employment

Thriving Jobs connects directly with EPALE’s 2026 thematic focus, “Skills for Quality Jobs and Lives”. Quality employment requires skills, but it also requires professionals who know how to support people in complex situations, employers who understand inclusion, and learning environments that are practical, accessible and connected to real life.

A job is not automatically a quality job. A quality job is one that allows the person to participate, contribute, grow and remain connected to what is important in their life. In the case of people with mental health conditions, this means looking beyond access to employment and paying attention to stability, working conditions, wellbeing, inclusion, reasonable adjustments and long-term sustainability.

This perspective is particularly relevant for professionals working in adult education, vocational training, guidance and employment support. Their work often takes place at the intersection between personal development, social inclusion and labour market participation.

Supporting the professionals who support inclusion

One of the main objectives of Thriving Jobs is to strengthen the skills of professionals who support labour inclusion, such as job placement officers, social educators, trainers, psychologists, occupational therapists, career counsellors and work coaches.

Their role is complex. They assess needs and strengths, support skills development, design individualised employment plans, engage with employers, identify adaptations and accompany people through uncertainty or difficulty. This requires practical tools, but also sensitivity, flexibility and the ability to understand employment as part of a wider life pathway.

To support this work, the project is developing a practical Guidebook for Professionals, conceived as a working tool for real employment support contexts. The Guidebook will help professionals move from assessment to action, from job access to sustainability, and from standardised support to person-centred pathways. It will address transversal skills, emotional support, workplace adaptation, employer engagement, post-placement follow-up and career development.

Fundación Sorapán de Rieros: leading from experience and commitment

The project is led by Fundación Sorapán de Rieros, a Spanish non-profit foundation based in Extremadura with more than two decades of experience in mental health, social inclusion and labour integration of vulnerable groups.

FSR’s leadership in Thriving Jobs is closely connected to its daily work with people with mental health problems and people at risk of social exclusion. Through its socio-labour inclusion services, therapeutic support, training activities and community-based projects, the foundation works to improve opportunities for people who face multiple barriers to employment and participation.

For Fundación Sorapán de Rieros, quality employment is not only a labour market objective. It is also a matter of rights, wellbeing and social justice.

A European partnership for more inclusive workplaces

Thriving Jobs is developed together with two Italian partners: Fondazione Progetto Itaca – ETS and TECNOPOLIS Parco Scientifico e Tecnologico.

Fondazione Progetto Itaca contributes its experience in mental health awareness, support and social inclusion, while TECNOPOLIS brings expertise in innovation, training, business support and stakeholder engagement. Together, the partnership combines mental health expertise, employment support, vocational education, innovation and employer engagement.

This combination is important because improving job quality requires action at several levels: the person, the professional, the employer and the wider community. Inclusion cannot depend only on the individual. A person can develop skills and motivation, but if the workplace remains rigid, uninformed or stigmatising, sustainable employment will still be difficult to achieve.

Skills for people, professionals and workplaces

EPALE’s 2026 thematic focus reminds us that skills are also about participation, resilience, autonomy and the ability to navigate a changing world. Thriving Jobs contributes to this vision by working on different types of skills.

Professionals need practical skills to support individualised employment pathways. People with mental health conditions may need support to strengthen transversal skills such as communication, emotional regulation, time management, confidence, digital skills and workplace problem-solving. Employers and organisations also need skills: the ability to understand mental health, adapt working conditions, prevent stigma and build inclusive teams.

This multi-level view is essential. Employment inclusion is not achieved by asking the person to adapt alone. It also requires workplaces, services and professionals to learn, adjust and create conditions where people can participate with dignity.

Learning that happens close to real life

Thriving Jobs results will include practical guidance, educational materials for local organisations, piloting activities and awareness-raising actions with professionals and employers. The aim is to create resources that can be used in real services, companies and employment pathways.

In this sense, the project also highlights the value of learning that happens close to real life: through practice, reflection, guidance, cooperation and direct contact with the challenges that people and organisations face.

Towards better jobs and better lives

Quality jobs and quality lives are deeply connected. For people with mental health conditions, inclusive employment can support autonomy, identity, social participation and wellbeing. But this only happens when employment is understood as more than access to a vacancy.

Thriving Jobs aims to support a labour market where people with mental health conditions are not only hired, but truly included, supported and able to thrive.