Avasant Foundation to train more than 200 J’cans for BPO sector
NOT-FOR-PROFIT organisation Avasant Foundation will be leading skills training programmes in Montego Bay and Kingston this year to prepare more than 200 young Jamaicans for employment opportunities in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry. The 2018 Avasant Digital Youth Employment Initiative will have four consecutive cohorts participating in a five-week training programme that will focus on teaching skills in ICT/BPO and customer service. The 2018 programme will end in May.
The award-winning initiative, which is hosted in partnership with the University of Technology, through the USAID-funded Fi Wi Jamaica Project and JAMPRO, is now in its third year of execution in Jamaica. Chitra Rajeshwari, Avasant Foundation’s executive director, said that the foundation selected Jamaica for the programme because of the rapid growth of the BPO industry and the need for employment opportunities in the country. She said, “The BPO industry is rapidly growing in Jamaica and there is the untapped human capital: the unemployed youths.”
Rajeshwari explained that while the general unemployment rate in Jamaica was trending downward, the rate of unemployment among young people remained high at 25.4 per cent, according to recent reports from STATIN. The initiative has sought to counter this unemployment rate, and the Avasant Foundation has reported that over 90 per cent of its graduates find employment after the programme. Rajeshwari said, “Hiring our graduates is a value added to these companies, and they feel they are participating in helping with youth unemployment. It is a win-win!”
To ensure that the programme is relevant to today’s BPO industry, Rajeshwari said that while the programme does not change its model, it continuously updates training materials so that graduates stay up to date with the needs of the industry. In addition to the technical skills, Rajeshwari said that the programme had a strong emphasis on self-empowerment and the necessity for flexibility while job seeking. She said, “The training we provide, even though specific to the BPO industry, the skills learnt can be transferred to any industry as customer service is core to any business.”