Employers Consultative Association of Malawi (Ecam), and Myjobo.com, an online job portal, have signed a partnership to enhance youths’ employability skills.

Ecam, a representative body of employers, released a statement in which its chief executive officer George Khaki said the partnership will utilise the Talent Guardians Platform to facilitate engagement between employers, educators and youth to help employers build young people’s work readiness and increase their access to a wider range of quality employment pathways.

Myjobo.com talent guardians adviser Nini Sulamoyo–Ruebush said employers complain that young people are not ready for the workplace or that they do not have the right skills for the industry, yet the country’s unemployment rate is over the roof.

The partnership is expected to help through work experience, skills development, career guidance and education, while  bringing employers closer to schools and colleges by offering more opportunities for young people to relate what they learn in the classroom to what happens at the workplace.