Microsoft partnered with several organisations in Egypt to launch a career portal called MasrWorks set to intensify efforts aimed at rebuilding the country, after the Egyptian Revolutions that saw majority of the youth turn jobless.
The new Egyptian skills development and jobs portal that comes complete with language and psychometric testing will open employment opportunities by giving the youth online training in IT, communications skills, career choice and entrepreneurship.
Unemployment in Egypt has been on the rise after the Egyptian revolutions that ended early March this year. According to Silatech, about 25 percent of the country’s 83,688,164 million people constitutes the youth with an average unemployment rate of 12.4 percent, as of 2012. About 90 percent of thoseunemployed are below thirty years.
According to Ayman Abdellatif, the General Manager at Microsoft Egypt, the new portal will help the youth get relevant job experience after training in addition to linking them up with job opportunities.
Jo Aggarwal, Director of Counseling and Placement Services at Silatech told HumanIPO the portal is set to expand to the entire region, and particularly covering the Arab nations.
“The portal will serve as an Arabian content hub for youth centred organizations in Egypt and the Arab world apart from providing workforce training and development, Job matching, and preparation,” said Aggarwal.
MasrWorks has also integrated Silatech’s Tamheed career guidance program with Microsoft’s e-learning resources that provides career-planning resources to enable the youth identify relevant career paths. It also offers extensive training options for different skills customized to specific target groups and jobs.
Silatech, a Qatar based social enterprise that focuses on educational and skills development programs has been actively involved in equipping the youth with essential skills that link them to relevant jobs. Established in 2008, it now boasts of more than 250,000 jobs to the youth through its partnerships.
Microsoft, an American multinational corporation, collaborated with Silatech and Yall Work, Education for Employment and Integrated Civil Society and several local and international NGOs to found the portal.
Google Egypt has also been involved in the empowerment of youth in the Arab nations and has recently done projects including the Google Ambassadors Programme and “start” with Google — to help Egyptians start up their own tech ventures in the country.
