USAID monitoring, evaluation, and learning activity training for employment activity (TEA ): end of project evaluation report

USAID selected three implementing partners, Luminus Technical University College, Education for Employment- Jordan, and Technical Vocational Training Academy, for the Activity. Using a mixed-methods approach, including primary and secondary qualitative and quantitative data collection through desk review, key informant interviews, group interviews, and survey of participants and employers, the evaluation was intended to inform how existing and future economic development programs could utilize lessons learned from TEA to incorporate successful approaches to meeting private sector demand for skilled and semi-skilled labor. The evaluation found that all four demographic targets (women, education level, Syrian refugees and marginalized groups, and poverty) were met or almost met by IPs. Similarly, some participants faced barriers in participation in the training and especially in joining the labor market. Nevertheless, the evaluation found that TEA was relevant to both the beneficiaries as well as the employers. Of the beneficiaries surveyed, almost a third were unemployed at the time of the survey. The men in employment had high sector and job mobility whereas the women less so. Finally, although the implementing partners did not believe this Activity could be conducted without donor support, more than 40% of the employers said they would pay for training job seekers under the right circumstances.