The digital platform “My Future is Today” will promote youth employment in Ecuador

Montevideo, June 9, 2023.

The digital platform “My Future is Today” is available for use by young people and other age groups in Ecuador. Through this interactive platform, users can search for employment at the national and regional level, train according to their profile and continuing education preferences, understand their informality status, and receive recommendations to improve their situation based on labor rights. 

The Ministry of Labor of Ecuador, together with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ecuador and the International Labour Organization (ILO), launched the digital platform “My Future is Today,” aimed at young people aged 18 to 29 and other age groups in the country, providing them access to useful information that will help improve their employment situation.

The digital platform “My Future is Today” aims to contribute to the improvement of young people’s employment situation in Ecuador through informational and interactive components that can be useful for better opportunities, social protection, and labor rights.

Sofis Solutions was responsible for the consultancy: “Development of a digital platform aimed at young people to improve their employment situation and collect their data.” The platform’s design is attractive and interactive to enhance user experience. Additionally, it aligns with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) at AA level, ensuring web accessibility and navigability for users.

Furthermore, the platform includes several functionalities, among which the following stand out:

• Smart Job Search: Allows young people to search for job openings at the national and regional level. Employers can also scan the information of registered users to find the required profile.
• Smart Training Search: Young people can search for training courses nationally and internationally according to their profile and continuing education preferences.
• Labor Rights Calculator: This feature enables young people to understand their informality status and receive recommendations to improve their situation based on the labor rights that protect them.
• Social Protection Calculator: Young people can continue to strengthen their social security awareness and develop strategies to face various life situations, including retirement.
• Databases and Visualizers: This functionality provides access to the database and visualization of information stored in the National Registry of Youth in Labor Informality, facilitating access for the public sector, private sector, academia, and civil society.

At the platform’s launch, Matilde Mordt, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ecuador, highlighted: “The launch of the platform ‘My Future is Today’ is the result of coordinated work among multiple actors and was designed considering the ideas of youth groups, civil society organizations, academia, the public sector, and international cooperation. This platform has a dual functionality: on one hand, it allows young people and other age groups to access information to improve their employment situation, and on the other hand, it ethically and securely collects user information, making it available in open data format to external actors working for the benefit of youth.”

The platform “My Future is Today” contributes to achieving SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, as its implementation promotes formal employment and facilitates access to fair, safe, inclusive, and equitable job opportunities.