MobileActive.org

In many developing countries, labor markets are in chaos--not because there’s a lack of job opportunities, but because there are no good information networks to help job-seekers and employers find each other: Web access is low, public/private resources are few, and infrastructure is poor. As a result, many skilled workers get trapped in cycles of joblessness and hardship. However, a huge number of people in developing countries have basic cell phone access, even in rural areas. Recognizing this reality, Souktel has created a simple, phone-based JobMatch service--a software application that reduces unemployment and poverty by helping ordinary job-seekers get key job information on their phones.

Our solution is simple: from any phone, job-seekers create SMS "mini-CVs" that include basic data on their skills, location, etc. These are then sent by mobile to our central database--which hundreds of employers search daily, via web or phone. From their side, employers create similar “mini job ads” and post them on the same database—so that job-seekers can search these jobs from their own phones. The database also matches job-seekers/employers who have similar profiles, sending them SMS alerts with each other’s data.

• SMS-based querying of information databases
• SMS-based user profile creation
• SMS-based matching of similar user profiles

Employers - Middle East:

• Ernst and Young
• Red Cross/Red Crescent
• CARE International
• Deloitte
• YMCA of East Jerusalem
• Education Development Center, Inc.

Institutional/Funding Partners - Middle East

• US Agency for International Development
• World Bank - Quality Improvement Fund for Higher Education
• King Abdullah Fund for Development
• Birzeit University (Palestine)
• Najah University (Palestine)
• Arab-American University of Jenin (Palestine)
• Al-Quds Abu Dis University (Palestine)