LaStartupStation

The Problem

The unemployment rate among young highly educated Moroccans is one of the highest in the world. Main cause for this is the misalignment between the hard skills possessed by the young graduates and the demand of the job market. The second cause of youth unemployment is the lack of soft skills of Moroccan youth. The hiring companies say they cannot recruit youth that are not able to manage conflict situations, adapt to changes of any kind (through creative thinking and innovation), or build lasting and sustainable relationships among themselves, and communicate effectively with content tailored to the target audience and communication channels. Consequently, they state that in a time of rapid changes of environments, these soft skills should be an essential part of training and learning strategies.

Moreover, many young Moroccans do not have sufficient language skills to work in a multinational environment. Additionally, women are reporting unique challenges, such as societal expectations and limited networking opportunities, that they face in the male-dominated field.  

Main challenges that ATTA project aims to tackle are youth unemployment in Moroccan Tech and ICT (TICT) sector, especially for women who are already underrepresented in the sector, and loss of competitiveness in Moroccan TICT sector. 

The Solution

African Tech Talents Academy (ATTA) aims to tackle these issues by:  

1. Defining TICT profiles and skills needed by Moroccan companies. 
2. Delivering exclusive upskilling TICT Bootcamp training for aspiring young tech professionals, including pre-employment internships. These bootcamps focus on improving both the hard – and soft skills of Moroccan youth. Hard skills focus on expanding technical skills and learning about the recent developments in the industry. Soft skills focus on communication, teamwork and adaptability, as well as improving language skills.  
3. Managing Job Matching services designed to bring together young job seekers and employers.