This stipend covers the remuneration of new IT staff (graduates without a local full-time employment contract at time of application) who need to gain knowledge and practical skills in mid-level or advanced-level value added services that cannot be found easily in the labor force but are essential to being hired for new outsourcing/ IT services projects with international buyers. 

To be eligible for this stipend, individuals will need to have a signed full -time employment contract (short term if necessary) with a Palestinian IT company, which will engage them on a project for which the company has a letter of intent or soft contract with an international buyer. This stipend is a fixed amount and will be valid for a maximum of one year, depending on the technology and project complexity.  

For its workforce to be eligible, the Palestinian IT company must demonstrate in its application that its trainees will receive practical training and mentoring during the project under the supervision and approval of the company’s international buyer who must also approve the trainees and their training plans. The stipend amount will be determined depending on current market value for position or technical skill, candidate experience, and technology / project complexity. 

The local companies are required to cover all overhead costs including office space, technology facilities, and management. The firm must present a business case for the workforce stipend justified by the prospects of a follow-up contract with the international buyer. The firm must also provide details of the human, technology, facilities, and other resources that it will contribute to the on-the-job training and ensure that they are adequate. 

 

Selection Criteria: 

The following criteria will be used to assess companies’ applications: 

• Firms should provide evidence that they have growth potential and a commercially sound business plan, including company vision, workforce expansion plan and can showcase the use of the resource in their business development activities.  
• The company has experienced and complementary leadership and a management team with the right skills and personal strengths to succeed in the market.  
• Firms applying must have a Letter of Intent (LOI) or similar from the international client stating the need for number of trainees and the skills that they will be trained on.
• Firms must show evidence (as part of the LOI) that the proposed trainees specified in their application have been approved by the international client; trainees need to be new hires without a current local full-time job and with an IT-related degree / STEM degree relevant to IT sector or an IT certification / diploma / training 
• Firms should present a brief plan mutually agreed with the international client for the scope of the assignment, the specific technology required, the number of trainees and the duration of the assignment/ training 
• The position(s) requested is / are aligned with the listed skills/ technologies.

 

The following criteria will be used to assess the suitability of the proposed trainees: 

• The proposed trainees must have an IT-related degree / STEM degree relevant to IT sector or an IT certification / diploma / training. 
• The proposed trainees must not be currently full-time employees at the company or any other company. 
• The proposed trainees must be trained on a new technology or the advanced level of technology they have already trained on. 
• The proposed trainees must not have been previously funded by the Student Internship or Train-to-Hire Stipends 
• The proposed trainees must not be immediate family members of the owner/manager or an immediate family member for the spouse of the owner/manager of the IT firm. Immediate family members include: spouse, child, niece/nephew, parent, siblings, grandchild, in-laws. 

 

To access additional information regarding eligible expenses, duration, application guidelines, and other relevant details, kindly click here

If you are familiar with the grant and application process, please click here to apply 

The provision of this grant is subject to fund availability.