UPSKILL Program
The Upskill Program focuses on helping IT firms (including tech and tech enabled startups) upskill their workforce to scale up their business, increase their opportunities for growth, and to attract new local and international clients.
The UpSkill Program will help upgrade the skills of the Palestinian IT service workforce through provision of stipends through the following window grants:
- Train-to-hire stipends Grant: Available to University Graduates, IT Diploma and IT related certificates holders, and new hires who need to gain knowledge and practical skills in mid or advanced-level value added IT services.
- The On-the-job training stipends Grant: Covers new IT staff looking to gain knowledge and practical skills in mid-level or advanced-level value added IT services that cannot be found easily in the Palestinian labor force but are essential to being hired for new IT services projects with international buyers. Eligibility will be determined based on a letter of intent / soft contract with international buyers.
- Expatriate and diaspora stipends Grant: Supports international staff, including Arab-Palestinian living in Israel, and Palestinians in the Diaspora with senior technological expertise or leadership experience, who will work with Palestinian IT services firms to build the technical and managerial capacity of their workforce.
Companies interested in applying to this program must meet the following eligibility criteria:
- Be a company legally registered and operating out of the West Bank and/or Gaza; or be in the process of legal registration; or be committed to registering with the Ministry of National Economy.
- Firms are IT services companies or business service providers working in the technology field in software development, computer programming and consultancy, data processing, hosting or related activities, or mature tech / tech-enabled startups that have some traction in the market and are already generating revenue.
- Be operational for at least 6 months prior to applying to the program. A company is considered operational if it engages in daily activities to increase the value of the enterprise, has existing customers, or has employment contracts and is paying salaries
- Projects have minimal or non-existent environmental impacts.
A summary table of the UPSKILL Stipends Program is presented below. Please refer to each window for details and specific eligibility and selection criteria.
* All stipends under the UpSkill program will be paid directly to individual beneficiaries. No payments will be made to the applicant firm in the form of reimbursement for salaries or any other benefits.
** IT firms benefiting from support under this program are fully responsible for deducting the full income tax based on the base salary for the individual beneficiaries and making the required income tax payments to the local tax authority. Any employment under this program must be compliant with the local labor and tax laws.
*** IT firms must submit a declaration that each proposed trainee included in their application does not have a local full-time employment contract at the time of submitting the application.
**** There are additional eligibility and selection criteria. Please refer to each window’s eligibility and selection criteria
To submit your application, please click here
