Cooperation for VET Empowerment in Albania

Annual surveys by respectable national and international actors indicate that the lack of qualified workforce is one of the major obstacles impacting the business environment in the country and enterprises operating in such environment.
Even though there is willingness for work by young candidates, such candidates in majority of cases have to learn the job, on the job, which in turn entails an amount of risk for companies hiring them, in the form
of an investment that does not always return a sustainable result in the form of a reliable employment relationship.
VET education has been on the recent focus of both companies looking into this pool of graduates for the employment needs, as well as VET institutions trying to sustainably fill the ever-increasing gaps and
requirements of the modern industrial sectors.
Harry Fultz Institute (HFI), as the leading institute for VET in the country has been a major actor in cooperating with the main companies operating in the country and fulfilling their employment needs by extensively training and qualifying such professionals; And in turn recommending to them employment opportunities in their respective fields of training.

Through the three proposed cooperative training programs, the Harry Fultz Institute envisions to improve particular aspects of their current ICT and Mechatronics programmes, as well as create a new programme in the field of Solar / Photovoltaic Energy. More specifically:
a) ICT: Currently the most popular sector of trainings within the HFI, however with ever-evolving needs for modernization of skills and certifications, with a particular focus on Cisco, Mikrotik Systems and Linux and the concepts applied within the Cybersecurity field, all of such areas emerging with an increased level of interest and demand, by employment seekers during the last couple of years.

b) Mechanic/Mechatronics: Within a fast evolving industrial sector, factories in Albania are now faced with modern challenges that in turn require technicians with a broad range of skills.

c) With the current increase in energy cost, as well as awareness over the benefits of clean energy towards the environment, solar energy is quickly becoming a trend in the country of Albania, with numerous
companies emerging through a very short period of time;

The final goal involves around improved overall income and better jobs, increased enterprise productivity with more accessible relevant training as well as labour market insertion opportunities. More specifically:

a) This initiative will foster better framework conditions for future partnering opportunities.
b) Relevant training and labour market insertion opportunities will be available for more participants and
disadvantaged groups.
c) Increased employ-ability in key sectors leads to more opportunities for better jobs or self-employment
and higher income.
d) Better workplace practices and access to skilled men and women, leads to increased productivity in
enterprises.