LABOUR MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES Sulaymaniyah District, Sulaymaniyah Governorate IOM Iraq – May 2020 This programme is supported by: List of Acronyms BEP Business Expansion Package BSP Business Support Package CIP Community Implementation Plan CoC Chamber of Commerce CoI Chamber of Industries CRC Community Resource Centre ESP Employment Support Package FGD Focus Group Discussion FT Farming Training IDP Internally Displaced Person ISIL Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant IOM International Organization for Migration JP Job Placement LMA Labour Market Assessment NFI Non-Food Items MoLSA Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs OJT On-the-Job Training SME Small and Medium Enterprise VT Vocational Training IOM Disclaimer The opinions expressed in the report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). 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No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Acronyms 2 IOM Disclaimer 2 Table of Contents 3 Executive Summary 4 Study Introduction 5 Labour Market Assessment Overview District Overview Assessment and Methodology Overview Findings 7 Attitudes Towards Entrepreneurship and Cash Types of Jobs Available Skills Gaps Recruitment Mechanisms Supply-side Bottlenecks Demand-side Bottlenecks Conclusions 10 Labour Market Opportunities and Challenges EXECUTIVE SUMMARY IOM conducts livelihood programming in 15 out of 18 in December 2019, employer surveys and key informant governorates in Iraq. As part of the Returns and Recovery interviews were conducted in December 2019 and January Unit programming, the International Organization for 2020. Migration (IOM) undertook a labour market assessment (LMA) in Sulaymaniyah District in December 2019 and KEY FINDINGS January 2020. • Trade, food and manufacturing jobs were noted as the LMAs have been conducted in over 30 locations across Iraq most desirable. and give insights on the state of the local market in a given • Participants noted a preference for owning their business. area, the hiring preferences of employers and the available • All surveyed employers defined demand for their products skills and aspirations of jobseekers, among others. and services as good or average. STUDY COMPONENTS • Hairdressing skills, English language, and computer training were suggested for young women, while barbering, mobile LMAs consist of both qualitative and quantitative exercises: phone repair, English language, computer, and electrical Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), multisectoral community appliance repair training were suggested for young men. workshops and surveys with jobseekers, employers and consumers. • Sewing courses were noted to be already available, or oversaturated. This LMA focused on Khabat, the main community and surrounding communities (Kaniba, Chiya 306, Wluba, • Big industries such as oil, cement, and iron factories, and Qaratoghan) in a Sulaymaniyah District, Sulaymaniyah education, and sweets factories were mentioned as Governorate. sectors that had difficulties in finding adequately trained employees. This LMA consisted of 104 individual interviews and a • Employers mentioned painting, ironing, and baking skills community workshop, conducted from December 2019 as hard to find. to January 2020. Consumers and jobseekers were surveyed Recommendations SECTORS TO TARGET General trade, food processing, hospitality, services, construction and education SECTORS TO AVOID N/A Business expansion support packages (BEPs) for supermarkets, On-the-Job training for busi- ACTIVITIES TO TARGET nesses selling women’s items (such as accessories and clothing). Enterprise Development Fund (EDF) grants to sweets factories ACTIVITIES TO AVOID Business support packages for construction tool sellers Yes, and could be around education or electricity projects (installation and repairs) if CASH FOR WORK (CFW) possible Direct cash is recommended here (only 3% of jobseekers reported that people are not DIRECT CASH comfortable paying for goods and services in cash) PROFILES TO TARGET Youth, female-headed households, graduates, internally displaced persons and older people • Electricity is the main area with needs • The EDF might perform well here as reportedly there are some factories and industries NOTES such as oil and cement, indicating the presence, albeit underdeveloped, of an industrial sector. However, no employers mentioned hiring new workers when asked about what they would do with a grant to expand their business Table 1. Recommendations 4 IOM IRAQ Labour Market Opportunities and Challenges STUDY INTRODUCTION IOM recognizes that the private sector is an engine for growth; encourages internally displaced persons (IDPs) to move to the therefore, it strives to create inclusive markets at the individual, area. Buildings tend to be quite old and while there are mini community and institutional levels. At the individual level, IOM markets, there are no malls in the community or surrounding has prioritized support to micro enterprises, including providing communities. With 3–4 medium-sized sweets factories in business development services (for example business advisory the community, most employees who work in the factories services) and Business Support Packages (BSPs), including are from outside of the community, except for IDPs. Khabat’s in-kind and cash support, all of which aim to increase income community members said they wished more factories could generation at the household level. be established to create opportunities for youth and women to work, and mentioned education, health, and electricity as For those individuals who need capacity development support their main needs. or who have specific backgrounds such as agriculture, IOM provides specialized skills development and training through CONSUMER SPENDING SNAPSHOT Vocational Training (VT), Farming Training (FT) or On-the-Job • Key weekly expenses: The typical consumer in Training (OJT), accompanied by employability assistance Sulaymaniyah District reported spending an average of – inclusive of in-kind items tailored to enhance individual 97 United States dollars (USD)per week on food for their employability. For beneficiaries who already have relevant household. education or training and need to gain hands-on work experience, IOM’s job placement and job matching initiatives • Key monthly expenses: 78 per cent of survey respondents link participants with businesses in growth sectors, and pays reported having a monthly rent expense, averaging their salaries partially or fully for three to six months. USD 195 per month, and all (100%) reported monthly expenses on temptation goods, such as alcohol and At the community level, through the Enterprise Development tobacco, averaging USD 57 per month. Fund (EDF), IOM provides support to slightly larger businesses – small and medium enterprises (SMEs) – to support long- ASSESSMENT AND METHODOLOGY OVERVIEW term job creation and the expansion of local production capacities. IOM also targets the infrastructure needed to The LMA process began in December 2019, after a two-day support markets. For example, in agricultural communities training on labour market assessment objectives and the tools IOM may support irrigation projects. At the institutional level, for data collection. Following the training, community-level IOM provides capacity building to national and local authorities, workshops with youth, women and local residents were including market assessments that seek to promote institutional organized on 5 December 2019, followed by KIIs, jobseeker, change in support of local livelihoods. employer, and consumer surveys. LABOUR MARKET ASSESSMENT OVERVIEW Multisectoral Community Workshops IOM’s LMAs are intended to provide actionable In Sulaymaniyah-Khabat, IOM conducted a workshop, held recommendations for the individual livelihood assistance on 5 December 2019 in Shahed Hama-amen Pola Primary that IOM provides in multiple districts throughout Iraq. This School in Khabat, with 25 participants (12 host community LMA focuses on the communities of Khabat, Kaniba, Chiya members and 13 IDPs, of whom 12 were women and 13 men) 306, Wluba, and Qara Toghan, in Sulaymaniyah District, After introducing IOM and its programming staff explained Sulaymaniyah Governorate, and includes interviews and a IOM’s plan to work closely with community members in community workshop in Khabat community. implementing future programmes. DISTRICT OVERVIEW Key Informant Interviews About 350 IDP families and 2700 host community individuals Ten KIIs were conducted with representatives