More than just earning money

Work is about more than just earning money. It’s a way for people to participate in society and develop their talents. Unemployment has risen due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has made applying for a job even harder for people who already had problems finding paid employment. For them, the competition in the job market is only getting worse.

Fortunately, Code Gorilla can help people find paid employment even under these trying circumstances. Their secret? The social enterprise brings people who have trouble finding jobs into contact with IT companies; a sector with an urgent shortage of personnel. Code Gorilla plays a vital role as an intermediary, because IT companies usually select only young, well-educated people with experience on the job.

During a three-month boot camp, Code Gorilla trains participants as junior coders and programmers, teaching them the programming language that is most in demand at the moment. The participants can also work on their social skills and other obstacles on the path to paid employment. To determine whether the participants have an affinity for working in IT, they are asked to study at home for a month and then complete a selection procedure first. Code Gorilla can also mentor the boot camp participants at their new workplace for up to a year after they are placed with a company.

One of the reasons why Code Gorilla can have such an impact is its expansive network. The social enterprise has close ties to the regional business community and the government, where more and more of its participants are finding jobs. As a result, 70 percent of the boot camp participants go on to paid employment. But Code Gorilla wants to do more, so it’s working on a two-year work training course especially for people who need more than three months to learn the ropes. During the course, they can work on their social skills, resilience, fear of failure and fear of public speaking.

Code Gorilla impact since its inception in 2017:

By supporting Code Gorilla, Rabo Foundation can help build on a more inclusive society and greater self-reliance. Social enterprises like Code Gorilla, which put society’s interests ahead of the market, need more time to become economically independent. With a loan, we can offer Code Gorilla the time they need to scale up the two-year program over the next five years. Code Gorilla also plans on expanding its activities to the east of the country. In addition, Rabo Foundation has made a one-time donation for lesson materials and laptops to lend out, so that people who don’t own their own computer can still participate in the Code Gorilla boot camp.