Albanian 
Prishtina, July 2, 2019 – Bridging the skills gap in the labor force through initiatives undertaken by businesses in training young people is necessary for further development, however they need support in stimulating these practices in the whole country. This was said during the roundtable organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo where AmCham members discussed about initiatives undertaken by the private sector in bridging the skills gap in Kosovo.
AmCham Executive Director, Arian Zeka, said that one of the most common challenges that businesses face in their operations is the skills gap in the labor force. He said that despite many initiatives undertaken by the private sector in this regard, businesses still are challenged by this issue which highly impacts their operations.
Executive Director of Cacttus Education, Besim Ilazi, said that even though businesses are training youth and this is resulting in many beneffits for their professional development, training them is becoming a burden for the private sector. Ilazi said that despite the fact that the private sector has taken the role of the leader in bridging the skills gap, they do not have any support, urging institutions to provide incentives for businesses in this regard.
Head of Competence Center and Strategic Initiatives at Raiffeisen Bank Kosovo, Kreshnik Halili, said that initiatives undertaken by this company in preparing youth have been reflected in a higher employment rate of these individuals in the company. He said that including youth in projects with high impact in the early stages of their training impacts their professional growth, adding that it is their responsibility to provide youth with internship opportunities for their profession and to expose them to new technologies in the banking sector.
Chief Operation and Outreach Officer at RIT Kosovo, Visar Jasiqi, said that through its training and development center, this institution aims on continuously training and preparing individuals for the labor market through professional trainings and other forms, and also transferring them to the labor market directly. He mentioned the need for a better coordination between businesses and educational institutions in providing internship opportunities which then directly reflects in professsional skills thus avoiding the scenario of them leaving the country.