Future Careers BRIDGE Platform: Advancing Youth ICT Employment in Sri Lanka

In 2017, the USAID Youth Employment and Business Start-up (YouLead) Program implemented by IESC identified the ICT sector as one of Sri Lanka’s fastest growing industries but noted that it was hindered by 12,000 unfilled positions annually. A university degree was a general prerequisite to ICT employment, which excluded many rural youth and youth in vocational education from industry employment. To address these challenges as well as high levels of youth unemployment, YouLead, in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM), created the “Future Careers BRIDGE Platform.” This online learning and talent acquisition platform provided non-university youth with ICT skills and job opportunities, while changing how ICT companies hired youth. IESC applied a CLA approach to co-create a platform that could upskill youth for ICT employment, promote a viable entry point to the sector, and create a paradigm shift in the nature of ICT hiring in Sri Lanka. The CLA approach prioritized external collaboration—finding strategic partnerships for commitment and shared investment, a monitoring and evaluation system that informed learning, and a culture of continuous learning and adaptive management. Over 41,000 youth registered on the platform, which supported employment of youth across 43 ICT companies. More significantly, the BRIDGE platform successfully transformed the accepted avenues to ICT employment; SLASSCOM’s adoption of the platform reflected a willingness of its 200+ member companies to employ youth without university degrees. IESC’s CLA approach established the framework for youth employment and industry-wide change.