Midterm Performance Evaluation of the Workforce Improvement and Skills Enhancement Activity (WISE); Technical Assistance, Training Activities and Capacity Building

Over 800,000 new job seekers enter the Egyptian labor market annually, but businesses have not kept pace with the number of jobs needed. The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) reported an unemployment rate of 5.2 percent in 1980. By the fourth quarter of 2016, it had risen to 12.4 percent and currently stands at 12 percent (first quarter of 2017). The relatively low employability of Egypt’s youth is a recognized constraint to economic growth. To address this constraint, USAID/Egypt is collaborating with the Ministry of Education and Technical Education (MoETE) and the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI) to improve technical secondary education to meet the needs of the job market.

This midterm performance evaluation examines the effectiveness of the WISE interventions implemented by the Management and Training Corporation (MTC), in particular, those related to upgrading technical education, and improving labor productivity and human resource management at the firm level, as measured by outcomes and perceptions of beneficiaries and stakeholders. The evaluation offers recommendations on how to address current challenges and strengthen WISE activity best practices and successful achievements to date, and inform activity implementation in the remaining 2017-2018 performance period, and 2019 option year.