The Problem
The post-revolution transition witnessed a sudden economic downturn that exacerbated both poverty and unemployment. In June 2013, the unemployment rate was 13.2%, the highest it has been over the last ten years. On the other hand, private sector employers have difficulty in finding qualified and motivated staff, which leaves vacant positions unfilled. Hence, the main problem on the Egyptian job market is that job seekers and employers with vacancies either do not meet, or are mismatched. This is particularly true on the non-academic (blue collar) job market. One reason is the general lack of career guidance and placement structures that help young people in the transition from school or unemployment to a job. In addition, job quality in blue collar employment is often inadequate.
Based on the issues outline above, Acumen was contracted by this leading international development Agency to tackle the issue through the establishment or strengthening of six new employment centers across Egypt.
The Approach
In order to help the client decide on the most suitable locations for these employment centers, the consulting team tackled this project in two phases. To rule out the least feasible governorates with regards to opening an employment center, Acumen conducted a pre filtration exercise, where a matrix consisting of quantitative KPIs on each of Egypt’s 27 governorates was put together, and an average cumulative score was calculated for each governorate. The top ten governorates receiving the highest scores during this pre filtration stage subsequently underwent further analysis, where they were tested on KPIs such as the economic structure in each governorate, the investment opportunities, the existing industrial zones, the unemployment rate, the number of technical school graduates and other such criteria which could help determine the suitability of a location for opening an employment center. Scores were then calculated for each of the 10 governorates, and different scenarios were built to test whether these would affect the final scores. Based on the final scores and in conjunction with the client, it was agreed that the six governorates where the field research would take place would be: Cairo, Alexandria, Suez, Port Said, Sharqia, and Damietta.
During the second phase, the field research team supporting Acumen conducted as series of interviews and focus groups with blue collar job seekers, employers, and training companies in the six shortlisted zones. Acumen has conducted a quantitative analysis of the field results, and the German client is currently undertaking site visits to potential entities who can host the employment centers in four of these governorates.
