Introduction

Abstract

The attainment of social cohesion is one of the central objectives of the European Union and its Member States. Employment is likely one of the most relevant underlying factors that favour social cohesion and constitutes a main target of European policymakers. Despite the great attention paid to promoting employment and labour market policies, unemployment—in particular, structural unemployment—remains a significant problem in some parts of the European Union, especially after the beginning of the most recent economic crisis. In this context, certain categories of workers find entering the labour market without assistance to be particularly difficult, justifying the application of measures by public authorities that provide incentives to enterprises to increase their levels of employment, particularly of workers from these disadvantaged categories.