Workforce Development

Preparing Tunisian youth for jobs in demand by the private sector

The Sector

The private sector accounts for over two-thirds of Tunisia’s GDP.

Key to Tunisian businesses is a workforce with the skills to meet their needs. But even when jobs are available, young people are not fully prepared for real workplace needs. While the government of Tunisia has invested heavily in university and vocational education, efforts to date have not been sufficient to prepare businesses’ future employees.

JOBS’ Vision and Strategy

JOBS’ strategy was to promote and support public-private sector partnerships that join the supply (youth – higher education, vocational training) with the demand side (employers) of the WFD equation to ensure that WFD programs train youth for present and future jobs, thus helping to reduce unemployment.

Our Work

JOBS supported the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MHESR) and Ministry of Vocational Training and Employment (MFPE) to strengthen curricula reform, as well as individual companies and sector federations across a variety of areas, including job placement, curricula reform, employment market information, and internships.

Our work focuses on four critical area
Helping place youth in jobs that meet private sector needs

JOBS supported universities, vocational training centers, individual companies, and sector federations, to match job seekers with existing vacancies, especially in JOBS’ client firms. We provided training in technical and soft skills, as well as creating and/or strengthening internship programs and organizing employability events (job fairs, career days, and networking events). JOBS is also helping youth to access online nationwide job search and orientation tools.

Strengthening career placement services at universities and vocational training centers

Career placement centers at universities (4Cs) and vocational training centers (AREs) are the linchpin between youth and future employers. JOBS helped to strengthen Tunisia’s extensive but underdeveloped placement systems by creating sustainable pilot programs in up to five regional universities and 12 vocational training centers (VTC) that can then be scaled nationwide. Key to this effort is developing a sustainable revenue base, alliances with the private sector, and sound governance.

Bolstering academic curricula to better prepare youth for the job market

As part of JOBS’ support for Tunisia’s first-ever public-private collaboration to reform undergraduate curricula nationally, it organized a series of workshops with representatives of the private sector and the National Sectoral Commission to incorporate training needed in the private sector into higher education curricula.

As a result, more than 90 universities in 20 regions implemented new curricula for 12 different university degrees. This will better prepare more than 9,000 students for the workforce each year.

Enhancing career information systems

JOBS worked with MFPE and professional associations to digitalize course content in priority sectors (textile, tourism, and agriculture), expanding access to educational resources and tools. JOBS helped MFPE integrate soft skills into educational curricula with private sector input in priority sectors.

Impact To Date

  • More than 43,000 youth benefited from new ICT and Business Administration academic curricula.
  • More than 3,600 youth placed in new jobs and 1,050 youth placed in internship programs
  • 5 universities, 147 teachers and over 250 students are piloting a semester-long Professional Career Development (PCD) course that will ultimately reach up to 150 additional teachers and 50,000 youth nationwide.