Employment & Job Training

Linking poor households with sustainable, income-generating activities breaks the cycle of poverty. Global Communities provides access to meaningful employment, supports entrepreneurship through job and life skills training and eliminates barriers that keep women, youth and other marginalized groups from accessing jobs. We focus on enhancing employment opportunities, especially for youth, through demand-driven training, job creation and strengthened market linkages and developing the capacity of entrepreneurs to grow their businesses.

Youth unemployment continues to be a critical issue facing many countries. With rapidly growing youth populations, more young people are joining the labor market each year than economies can absorb. Given the insufficient growth in employment opportunities, providing young people and adults with technical training and entrepreneurship skills aligned with market demand is key to improving opportunities and increasing incomes. We work with the private sector to customize technical training programs, provide soft skills and entrepreneurship training and connect trained youth with internships and apprenticeships for on-the-job learning and skills development.

Entrepreneurship is one of the key drivers of development and a catalyst of inclusive growth. Micro, small and medium enterprises create jobs and are key suppliers of goods and services to people with low incomes. However, many individuals in emerging markets are entrepreneurs of necessity rather than choice, and can lack access to skills or education. We work with entrepreneurs to leverage opportunities for growth through improvements in managing their businesses, entering better markets and accessing the micro-finance needed to grow. We support individuals and groups through strengthening cooperatives and associations that collectively help ensure success. This translates directly to increased sales, income, employment opportunities and more secure households.

An example of our work in this area is the Youth Inclusive Entrepreneurial Development Initiative for Employment, which created economic opportunities in Ghana’s booming construction sector for disadvantaged youth by providing training in technical, life and entrepreneurship skills leading to employment. The program addressed the labor shortfall in the industry and improved the capacity of youth and service providers across the value chain. Young men and women benefited from job opportunities and higher income, while sector stakeholders, such as private sector firms, financial services providers, training institutions and government, gained increased coordination and capacity to improve their enabling environment.