1.
Can you tell us a little about the collaboration between Atos,
Digital Skills Accelerator Africa (DSAA) and Invest for Jobs?
Two
years ago, in collaboration with DSAA and Invest for Jobs, we
developed a training programme for young IT talent in the areas of
data analytics, digital platforms, AI, digital testing and project
management. Part of the training takes place at Atos' premises and
part online. The aim of the programme is to prepare graduates for
jobs at Atos or other IT companies in international software
development projects. We enable our trainees to gain real hands-on
experience, thus facilitating their journey to employment.
First,
they complete a three-month theoretical section, in which they are
familiarised with all the applications they will be working with. The
trainees then practice what they have learned during a three-months
paid internship at Atos client projects. In this way, they don’t
only receive qualifications, but can also include this first
reference directly in their CVs. A major advantage of the programme
is that as an IT service provider, we know exactly what is currently
needed on the market. We can therefore adapt the training courses to
the needs of future employers.
2.
The first cycle of the training programme began in 2022 and has since
been completed. What successes and insights have been gained during
this time?
In
total, we have trained over 280 young IT talents over the past two
years in Egypt, enabling them to find permanent employment positions.
Half of them now work for Atos.
We
are particularly proud of the fact that 40 percent of our graduates
are women. This is an important aspect of our work, as women have
enormous potential for the job market worldwide, including in Egypt.
We are fortunate that we have many women in the IT sector that we can
include in the programme. This has many long-term economic and social
benefits. It improves the income situation of families. Atos further
supports women participation by offering a hybrid model of working
three days at the office and two days at home, but not all companies
do this.
3.
Preparation for another training cycle is underway. Are there any
innovations or further developments within the second programme?
We
actually had such a good experience in the first round of the
programme that we saw no need to adjust the training. At the
beginning, we just needed to understand what DSAA required in order
to partner with us. We learned that quickly and are now experienced
enough to know exactly what is needed. We will offer the training in
the same way we did before because it worked perfectly.
4.
In what way or form has Invest for Jobs supported the programme?
Invest
for Jobs has been and still is crucial for the programme at all
levels. It has supported us financially and technically in setting up
the trainings through its implementation partner, the member
association DSAA.
DSAA
helped to guide the programme in the right direction and to include
the local ecosystem in the training implementation because the goal
of the programme is to train talents for us but also for other IT
companies. Additionally, it has supported us in the areas of
marketing and social media to find new talent for the programme, but
also to raise awareness of the project and the graduates among
companies. Sometimes, DSAA helps us in very practical ways, for
example when it comes to getting CVs from applicants, or when
problems arise for which we don't have the capacity. We have other
training programmes at Atos, but due to the lack of practical
relevance, none are as successful as this one.
DSAA
as a member association offers us not just project management
support, but also access to expertise and a broad network of ITO/BPO
companies in the field of impact sourcing, meaning the targeted
integration of marginalised groups such as women or people with
disability to leverage the full potential of the workforce in Africa.
Atos
offers training in collaboration with DSAA not only here in Egypt,
but also in Morocco, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire. In the long term
this cooperation will be extended to other countries where Atos
operates. The goal is to increase the number of trainees. And, of
course, we are constantly developing our curriculum and adapting it
to the times and the needs of companies.
Editor's
note: Ms Safinaz Elkhattam left Atos in December 2024. This interview
was conducted in 2024 while she was still in her job.
The
Atos training programme run with DSAA is supported by the Deutsche
Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in the
context of Invest for Jobs on behalf of the German Federal Ministry
for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).