Pre-employment support program for Syrians under temporary protection and host communities in Turkey
Yelda Devlet Karapinar, Head of Labour Migration and Human Development Unit at IOM Turkey, ydevlet@iom.int
Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible Relacionados y Objetivos del Pacto Mundial sobre Migración
Objetivo clave
The objective of the project was to promote labour market integration of Syrians under temporary protection and host community members by encouraging closer relations with business owners. It also aimed to enhance the basic knowledge and skills that support the employability of job seekers to make the process of adaptation to the labour market easier for both target groups.
Principales actividades
A total of 110 beneficiaries participated in a 5-day orientation session that included work-related learning objectives to facilitate the process of adaptation to the labour market, as well as basic knowledge and skills that support job seekers' employability. Thereafter, beneficiaries began a 3-month on-the-job training programme. During this period, minimum wage, social security national insurance contribution margin and relevant taxes and fees were covered by IOM for the first 6 months. Upon completion of the on-the-job training, beneficiaries took the vocational qualification exam and received certificates from VQA. In return, the company secured beneficiaries’ jobs for the following 6 months.
Éxitos clave o factores innovadores, buenas prácticas y lecciones aprendidas (si están disponibles)
The evaluation of the program revealed that it set a ground for beneficiaries to integrate and harmonize. Beneficiaries’ active participation encouraged them to listen, hear and learn from one another. Government stakeholders’ active participation in the program contributed to beneficiaries’ understanding of the work-based learning, laws and regulations related to labour force, labour migration concepts. Based on the positive feedback received from all the engaged parties, this programme was re-implemented in 2019 and 2020 as well. In addition, as the employers acknowledged the potential of migrants, they kept them in employment after the end of the programme as well. Furthermore, this programme acted as an ice breaker as it broke down the prejudices of both employers and host society members and raised awareness of them towards migrants. The employers involved in the programme emphasized that they will continue to work with migrants.
Beneficiarios
Syrians under temporary protection, host community members