The Retraining Program in QA testers – “PreobuQA!” is implemented by the Institute for Development and Innovation from October 1, 2023, to February 28, 2024. The project is supported by the Embassy of the United States of America through the BOLD Program, with the Association for the Affirmation of Culture (ASK) as the main partner.
The project is based on the fact that the position of young people in the Serbian labor market is unfavorable – 147,000 young people are neither employed nor in education or training (the so-called NEET position). These young people represent an untapped potential in the labor market. According to data from the 2022 Labour Force Survey, 15.1% of young people aged 15–29 were in the NEET category, meaning they were neither working nor studying.
At the same time, the youth unemployment rate stood at 16.6%, with unemployment among young women (17.1%) being higher than among young men (16.3%). Furthermore, according to data from the Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC), young people aged 18–24 represent the age group most exposed to the risk of poverty – 27.7%. All of this points to structural barriers that prevent young people from entering the labor market in a stable and sustainable way. The objective of the “PreobuQA!” project is to improve the position of young people in the labor market through retraining for the profession of QA tester, which includes software testing and quality assurance.
QA testing is one of the most in-demand occupations in the IT sector and enables young people not only to find employment in domestic companies but also to be competitive in the international labor market. The project is designed to provide participants with practical knowledge and skills, increase their employability, and create conditions for self-employment and starting their own businesses.
Through the program, 50 participants (25 young women and 25 young men) from across Serbia will take part in an intensive cycle of 30 workshops – 24 dedicated to QA testing and 6 focused on career development. The training program will last three months, and at the very end of the project, a Job Fair will be organized to enable direct networking between participants and IT companies seeking new talent. In addition, through workshops and mentoring support, participants will be trained to develop business plans and informed about opportunities to access national and local subsidies for starting their own businesses.
QA testing is one of the most in-demand occupations in the IT sector and enables young people not only to find employment in domestic companies but also to be competitive in the international labor market.
The expected results of the project include at least 50 young people trained for the profession of QA tester. More broadly, the project contributes to the development of the IT sector’s human resource base in Serbia, increases the competitiveness of young people in the labor market, and reduces the risk of their long-term economic exclusion. The project will have long-term effects on the primary target group, as its implementation will lead to a lasting improvement in participants’ position in the labor market. Retraining will move them away from unemployment, the risk of poverty, and emigration.
Through this project, the goal of the Institute for Development and Innovation is to strengthen the capacities of young people for active participation in the labor market, reduce the NEET population, and place special emphasis on promoting gender equality through the equal inclusion of young women and men in the program.
