Digital transformation is a bit of a catch word these days, but what it means is that organizations are becoming increasingly dependent on technology to make sure their teams work efficiently. The workforce is changing in every way and employers are progressively looking to hire more remote or freelance workers. This diversity of the type of employee an organization employs means that it’s also changing the way organizations manage, communicate, and grow.

At EYE, we make targeted investments in the labor market not only because we seek to stimulate sustainable development and connectivity in infrastructure, but also to promote digital firms and support the digitalization of the wider economy.

To make this happen, we need a nimble skills training sector twinned with smart recruitment services that focus on an increasingly digitalized economy that keeps pace with the acceleration of technological development. The ability to provide access to training through digitalization and blended learning, providing modular training and investing in long-term sustainability is crucial.

As digitalization increasingly receives traction in Kosovo, the niche for online trainings grows with it. Over the years, one of the sectors that EYE has worked extensively in is non-formal education. From ICT, to BPO, to VET—we have supported partners big and small so that together, we can create a new generation of young people with skills better suited to the labor market needs. As demand for online training surges, we are reorienting support to digital services and working proactively with partners to identify opportunities.

With our help, recently the Swedish-Ukrainian IT Company Beetroot Academy’s ICT training curriculum has been exported to Kosovo and is now being delivered here entirely through digital means. To achieve this, we partnered with KUTIA, a local business which creates web applications and e-commerce platforms, among a long list of other ICT services. We supported them to set up the necessary infrastructure to make the full digital transition to offer these trainings online and improve accessibility. The online training has already garnered the attention of 300 new potential participants, and the founders are hopeful that the online trainings will help young people adapt to the pandemic.

Another shift in recruitment and matching that EYE is fomenting in Kosovo is the move to digital Human Resource services. We’ve supported Kosovajob—a digital job-matching platform—to introduce a new software that combines recruitment, career guidance, and labor market information into one platform. The software is called SIMBA, and it is slated to support small and medium size companies to better manage recruitment, onboarding and contract management—entirely digital. SIMBA is now slated to not only simplify recruitment in Kosovo, but has also help keep everyone safe through removing any need for in-person recruitment.