Ramat Gan firm offers free job training to curb unemployment

With the coronavirus unemployment rates soaring to close to 25%, one of the country’s largest computing companies decided to take action.

SQLink, which employs 2,500 people in Ramat Gan, is offering 50 of its professional training courses to people who lost their jobs due to the virus. Twenty-five percent of the enrollment in the courses, which normally cost NIS 6,000, will be offered to the unemployed at no charge.

“We are an Israeli company, and we see what is happening here,” said SQLink director-general Gilad Rabinovich.

“We decided we need to give. We thought about how we could help, and we decided we can do our best by helping people earn long-term income by gaining the skills they need and strengthening their confidence.”

Rabinovich noted that the coronavirus era is a bad time to look for work and the right time to gain additional skills for when the virus has been defeated and the business climate improves. But training courses are not included in governmental assistance to the unemployed.

SQLink deals with computerized development, business intelligence and digital transformation projects. The courses include project management, system analysis, information security and developing applications for Android phones.

While the courses are normally given in classrooms in Ramat Gan, due to the pandemic, they will be offered by Zoom. But the classes will be delivered live by professors in 10 classes of 30 to 60 hours.

“Especially now, when everyone is struggling under the edicts of the coronavirus, we as a company on the front lines of technology must use our experience in job training to help unemployed people return to the workforce.”