Digital Jobs Albania is a project implemented by the World Bank to offer girls and women a training opportunity in the most sought-after professions at the moment as well as more opportunities for independent online work. The project consists of intensive training of 12 weeks, free of charge. Furthermore, Business Magazine conducted an exclusive interview with the Digital Jobs team.
How did the idea for this project come about?
This project comes as an initiative of the World Bank which has previously developed similar pilot projects, including Kosovo, and where it was noticed that the economic impacts but especially the social ones were quite successful. Beneficiaries from previous similar pilots have witnessed the creation of a sense of hope and especially the strengthening of their role in the family or community, increased economic independence, self-confidence, etc.
This is because the development of online job markets for freelancers is offering more and more new opportunities to connect with the global economy through websites like Upwork, Fiverr, and People Per Hour offering especially good job opportunities with international standards for jobs related to digital marketing, web development, graphic design, etc. Albania has also started to benefit more from the freelance online market but there is still a large number of the population that is not aware of these existing opportunities.
Why did you decide to target only girls and not both genders?
The labor force participation rate of women in Albania is still 14.6 percentage points lower than that of men. According to the 2020 data of the National Institute of Statistics of Albania (INSTAT), the gender pay gap remains 6.6 percent. Developing a model of independent online work can play an important role in narrowing these gaps. Among other things, most Albanians working freelance online are men, and there is also a lack of presence of girls and young women in this new market full of opportunities for them. Flexible working hours and the ability to work from home can help more women and girls with the right skills stay in the job market and gain financial independence. As a result, the initiative aimed to pilot initially with girls and young women as the segment of the population still under-represented in the labor market and mainly on freelance work, and then the applied model, can be extended to men and why not, even at ages other than those targeted at this stage.
Is it only valid for students or is anyone who can engage free to apply? Do you need previous experience or knowledge in the three areas?
Students are one of the main target groups, as it is about giving them help or guidance in starting their careers, taking into account the difficulties that young people today face in finding a well-paid job. However, the project does not only target students but also those girls and women who have completed their studies, who may have already started their careers, but are not employed full time or in permanent jobs. So the project aims to provide sustainable employment opportunities to those unemployed girls (or part-time women) to shorten the unemployment gap of this segment (mentioned above). Being unemployed or part-time is therefore one of the main requirements of this project. Previous experience or knowledge in all three areas is not necessary, desire and will to learn new skills will be enough, and especially it is necessary that participants also understand which area they like best as they may have a hidden talent which has not yet been put to the test.
What will be the selection criteria and when are the winning participants expected to be informed?
The main selection criteria are:
- Be an Albanian girl/woman (living in Albania)
- Age 16 - 35 years
- Currently not employed full time
- Average English language skills
- Access to computers (laptop or desktop) and stable internet
The application consists of 2 main stages, the initial application is made which is a form of preliminary scanning to see if applicants meet the above key conditions to be part of the training. Applicants are then notified by email if they have passed the second phase of the application which consists of a "Trial Period" that will remain open for a maximum of 1 week and where potential candidates will be able to watch some videos and do some exercises that "simulate" the training process. At this stage, they will be able to understand which of the 3 courses they will want to attend (and will make their choice). At the end of the probationary period, interested applicants will have the opportunity to complete a probationary assignment, which will serve as the basis for the final verification of successful candidates who will become part of the training and mentoring program. The results of each application phase will be emailed to you.
What are your future plans or expectations for DigitalJobs?
As we noted above, we expect that the pilot program, upon successful completion and the lessons learned from it, can then be extended not only to both genders but also the age limit to be extended beyond 16-35 years. We also want to emphasize that this project targets at this stage also vulnerable groups (persons with disabilities, minorities, etc.) who have more difficulty accessing the labor market in Albania and for whom online work would provide an opportunity to work away from the prejudices they often face.
Can you tell us three main reasons why women should apply?
Working as freelance online offers many benefits among which the 3 most important we can mention are:
Greater flexibility and independence - Online freelancers can work from anywhere and on schedule! All you need is a functional computer and a stable internet connection.
More income opportunities - While the average wage in Albania is around $3 an hour, a Graphic Designer, Digital Marketer, and Web Developer with moderate skills earns an average of $27 to $35 an hour.
Freedom to choose clients and workload -Freelance work offers the possibility of choosing clients and/or desired projects and offers the opportunity to control or manage the workload itself as far as possible.
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