Dubai
, UAE
- February 9, 2009:
Manpower, a world leader in the employment services industry, announced recently that it has entered into a partnership with Silatech to bring job creation, employment and entrepreneurship opportunities to young adults in 22 countries throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Under the agreement, Manpower will leverage its global expertise to help Silatech deliver demand-driven and market-oriented skills training and job-placement services to young people across the region.
Silatech was officially launched in June to address the critical and growing need to create jobs and economic opportunities for young people. The initiative promotes large-scale job creation, entrepreneurship and access to capital and markets for young people, starting first in the Arab world, where the highest rate of youth unemployment exists. Silatech was founded by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned with broad support from other regional and international leaders, governments and organizations. The partnership aims to offset social marginalization and lack of economic opportunity among the region’s young people by enabling systemic changes in enterprise development, employment practices, policy and access for youth.
“This joint venture is the first of its kind, representing a tremendous opportunity for Manpower,” said David Arkless, Manpower’s President of Corporate and Government Affairs. “The youth population bulge in the Middle East and North Africa presents an immediate employment challenge and the need for long-term, sustainable economic development in the region. The combination of Manpower and Silatech, with the support of the highest levels of government, will accelerate the ability to develop effective solutions.”
Under a memorandum of understanding signed in Davos yesterday, Manpower and Silatech established a one-year framework to exchange experience and practices through piloting innovative programs for young people. The pilot programs will draw on Manpower’s global expertise, including the engagement of employers and measurement of employer needs, candidate assessment and training, job-readiness/soft skill initiatives, the creation of effective workforce development partner linkages and capacity-building among service partners.
Following the pilot, Manpower and Silatech will engage in a multi-year joint venture for on-the-ground service delivery across the region. It is hoped that over the long term, the initiative will increase the transparency of local labor markets and employment practices, helping young people overcome cultural as well as skills barriers to employment and entrepreneurship.
Rick Little, CEO of Silatech, said the partnership represents a formidable opportunity for young people and the region. “This innovative agreement leverages Manpower’s 60 years of global labor market expertise to connect young people to meaningful, decent and sustainable work. Working together, Manpower and Silatech, along with other partners across the Middle East and North Africa, can help to unlock the region’s economic potential and provide lasting opportunity for the next generation.”
Manpower Middle East currently operates 10 offices in the Gulf region: 3 in Dubai, 1 in Abu Dhabi, 2 in Qatar, 2 in Saudi Arabia, 1 in Bahrain and 1 in Kuwait. It joined the Middle East’s employment services market in 2007 through the acquisition of Clarendon Parker Middle East, the region’s largest staffing solutions provider. Manpower Middle East’s comprehensive service portfolio includes permanent and temporary recruitment, contract staffing and outsourcing, and HR consulting.
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