VI Employment Congress
Speakers
Pilar Varela
Head of SEPEPA, the Asturias public employment service.
A qualified teacher and graduate in education from the University of Oviedo.
Between 1981 and 1987 she had different responsibilities at JOCE, the Spanish Christian youth organisation, in Asturias and Cantabria, of which she was national president between 1984 and 1987.
Between 1987 and 1992 she performed different tasks for the European Commission as part of employment initiatives and programmes for young people. She does this work as a member of the Proempleo cooperative, a Madrid organisation specialising in employment and employability for young people.
From 1992 to 1999 she was head of training at Ciudad Tecnológica Valle del Nalón, helping to run the enterprise culture programmes.
From 1999 to 2007 she was the councillor responsible for economic development and tax at Avilés town council.
Between 2007 and 2015 she was the mayor of Avilés.
From 28th June 2015 to 25th July 2019 she was minister for social services and rights in the government of the Principality of Asturias.
