Hundreds of job seekers and scores of employers meet face to face in a forum in Damascus

Hundreds of university students and new graduate students, who are searching for a job came to the two-day Job Opportunities Forum which was held on November 1-2 at the “Dama Rose” Hotel in Damascus with the participation of 70 companies specialized in the fields of tourism, hospitality, banking  insurance and advertising.

Some of the students were whispering to each other about the minimum wage of the available jobs as they were searching for job opportunities with good wages despite the fact that most  of them have no experience.

Anonymously, several students told Syria Times: “ The companies want employees who have expedience, and we are still studying ….We came to search for a job because our families are no longer able to pay the costs of our study at universities or institutes….. We filled out job applications in the stands of many participating companies because we want to work to earn money to support ourselves.”

In this context, the head of the Federation of Syrian Tourism Chambers, Talal Khoder told reporters: “There are promising job opportunities in tourism sector and the wages are appropriate. For example, the wage of the employee in  reception is about 500.000 Syrian pounds.”

The largest percentage of participants in the forum were from the tourism sector, according to Mrs. Nuha Shwehneh, Director of Human Resources at the Syria Trust for Development (The Trust ) , who told us: “The aim of the forum is to network graduates of tourism institutes and colleges with the business sector, and the opportunity is available to all graduates and job seekers not only in tourism sector but also in other sectors.

She added:” We, the Syria Trust for Development, have a development goal….The youth, who are participating in the forum’s activities will have training opportunities after the end of the forum, and they will be included in rehabilitation and training programs upon the requirements of the labor market.

Mrs. Shwehina referred to a very important point that (The Trust) will save data for all those who filled out job applications in the forum, either on papers or electronically, and after the end of the forum, the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor and The Trust will contact the applicants, who have not been accepted in jobs, and will put them within the list of training programs with the aim of enabling them to have an opportunity in the labor market.

“This is the first time the Syria Trust for development takes part in the forum,” Mrs. Shwehina added, indicating that the forum is important because it brings job seekers and employers together to bridge the gap between the two sides and to helps them meet directly with each other.

For his part, Mr. Radwan Nassar, Sales and Marketing Manager at OUSOS Training & Human Resources Development  LLC, said: “ We ensure job opportunities for companies, restaurants and hotels that contact us… In this forum we will ensure 12-15 job opportunities.”

Since its foundation in 2010, OUSOS company trained over 4000 people and worked with more than 150 banks, telecommunication and insurance companies, government institutes and international organization as well as  offering 1000 training programs and 1000 free training scholarships in different sectors.

Other job opportunities were available in Gemini Group, which was founded in 1998,  according to Mrs. Carole Conslieh, Marketing Manager at the Group.

“The goal of our participation in the forum is to attract youths to join our team….We have several job opportunities in the fields of accounting, human  resources, restaurants’ management, IT and Security as our company is developing day by day,” she clarified.

Massa Plaza Mall, which  opened in 2010, was also seeking to attract university students in the forum.

Mr. Salim Taqi Eddin , from the stand of the mall, told us: “We seek to attract university students , who studied hospitality management and tourism. We have several commercial and services departments , such ae restaurants, café, supermarkets….etc. we search for certain skills and experiences to join our team .. We can find them in this forum… We have 28 job opportunities in the mall.

At the stand of the center of training youths at the ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Syria Times talked to Wafaa Qanda, who said: We help in training , enabling and employing new graduate students and we support young people aged  between 18 and 45  to get a job in labor market. We also network with private sector for employment.”

Besides job opportunities there were free scholarships for university students.

Dr. Mais Ahmad from Global Management Croup for Tourist Training, said: “The  group holds courses in the fields of ISO, economy, banking and management of  tourist facilities and it gives international certifications issued by TÜV AUSTRIA to enable youths to find jobs. we offer in this forum 50 scholarships for university students and new graduate students in languages, communication skills, human resources negotiation skills….As you know  both academic certifications and skills are needed in labor market.

The forum’s employment platform was launched by the Syrian “Al Fineeq” Organization for Sustainable Tourism.

Mr. Mohammad Tariq Al-Hamwi, IT manager at the organization said: “The platform trains youths on how they can register and find job, especially in the sector of tourism….The organization seeks to go to new areas such as creating job opportunities to achieve its goal.”

It is worthy to note that there are no recent official statics about employment rate in Syria, and the last one was issued in 2020.

According to an article published by the Damascus based Al-Watan newspaper on June, 7, 2002, the report of the Central Bureau of Statistics on the Labor force showed a decrease in the unemployment rate from 31.2 percent in 2019 to 20.9 percent in 2020.

Reported by Basma Qaddour