Microsoft Jordan is sponsoring 100 university graduates as part of a Graduate Internship and Employment Program that was launched in May 2009 by the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (MoICT), the Ministry of Labor (MoL), USAID’s Jordan Economic Development Program (SABEQ), and sector associations that include int@j and Jordan Computer Society. Microsoft Jordan is providing a number of free training courses that will help develop the IT skills of graduates hired under the Program and better prepare them for their careers in the IT industry.

The Government is helping graduates find suitable employment within the private sector, subsidizing 50% of each student’s salary during the first 12 months of their employment and 25% during the subsequent six months employment period. Every graduate hired under the Program also receives a two-week soft skills training course. Microsoft’s contribution to the Program will further expand the skills developed by the recruits.

Marwan Juma, Minister of Information and Communications Technology, stated, “This Program will help achieve one of the national ICT strategy’s objectives, which is to increase employment in the sector to 35,000 jobs by 2011.”


Juma went on to say, “We launched the Graduate Internship and Employment Program in cooperation with the Ministry of Labour and ICT sector associations to help relieve part of the cost of hiring fresh graduates by the private sector. The Employment Program aims to subsidize the salaries of 500 graduates that are hired annually by the private sector. We are proud to be part of this national program, where the private and public sectors get together to support such program.”

Dr. Ibrahim Omoush, Minister of Labour, stated “We are implementing this program in cooperation with the MoICT and the private sector as part of the Government’s efforts and the Ministry of Labor’s role to encounter unemployment amongst young Jordanians in general and fresh graduates in particular, since unemployment rates among university graduates was 16.2% in 2009, which is higher than the national unemployment rate of 12.9%.

Dr. Omoush added, “The Graduate Internship and Employment Program aims at increasing the chances for fresh graduates to find employment opportunities in the ICT sector, which is one of the fastest growing and best performing sectors in Jordan, with a strong demand for skilled and technically proficient IT professionals. We believe this program will help meet that demand and at the same time, decrease unemployment rates among ICT graduates.”

Rula Ammuri, Country Manager of Microsoft Jordan stated, “The MoICT and the MoL launched the Graduate Internship and Employment Program, and as part of our support for this program we are providing technology students from the Kingdom’s leading universities and colleges with the necessary training to ensure that they possess the right skills and proficiencies in the most commonly used and latest software technologies.”

Microsoft Jordan worked to provide access to a series of training sessions at the Microsoft Innovation Center (MIC) to help the students build their capacities and enhance their technical skills. The sessions include an advanced-level course covering Microsoft Office Outlook and Excel, a training session on Microsoft Solution Framework, and introductory workshop on Unified Communications, Virtualization, SharePoint and BizTalk, which is sponsored by Special Technical Services (STS), a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner.

The first group of 25 students received the first training at the Microsoft Innovation Center on January 12, 2010, while the final training session will be completed by February 11, 2010. Students who complete all three courses will also receive a certificate from Microsoft detailing the training received. As part of Microsoft’s support for the Internship Program, the graduates will also have the opportunity to access and use various Microsoft products free of charge through the DreamSpark Program.

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