Turkish economy is continuing to develop with new participations in all sectors. Turkish and Syrian entrepreneurs and employees participating in working life constitute new resources for our country. In order to effectively manage the adaptation process of foreigners in our work life, two programmes in the scope of the Opportunities for Lives Project are being run by ILO Office for Turkey: Sustaining Competitive and Responsible Enterprises (SCORE) and Workplace Adaptation Programme (WAP). Both are solution-oriented specifically designed for our country by taking international examples into account. SCORE is a practice including training services for business managers and employees with the aim of increasing productivity of the SMEs.

Necip Uysal, Furkan Tekstil, Business Owner- Our company was established in 2012, we do export. Thanks to the SCORES training we took, we raised our company from class C to A. The orders we take were increased, therefore we increased the number of employees.

Engin Hazar, Krom Metal, Business Owner- We had consultancy support within the framework of the SCORE programme. Thanks to our consultant, we learned the method of more efficient production. In order make this sustainable, we hired an industrial engineer. Now, we are producing more with less people. We would like to thank those who contributed to this programme.

The Opportunities for Lives Project aims to help the adaptation of the Syrians under temporary protection to work life. Workplace Adaptation Programme (WAP) matches foreigners with Turkish workers in workplaces as “workplace buddies”. So that Syrians learn workplace rules and our business culture from their Turkish colleagues.

Hussam Quddah, Tailor - Hello, my name is Hussam Quddah, I am from Syria. I work in the garment business. At first everything was difficult. My Turkish colleague Eda helped me. I didn’t know the rules. I didn’t know the working hours or how many days we should work in a month. Thanks to my friend Eda, I learned everything about working at this company.

Eda Aslan, Accountant- Hello, my name is Eda Aslan. I was matched with my Syrian colleague Hüsam in the workplace within the Workplace Buddy Programme. Through this programme we had such good times together. We ate together, sat together during the breaks. At first, he had some difficulties and having hard time not adapt. I helped him to adapt our system.

Besel Hüsein - My name is Besel Hüsein, I am from Syria. I came here in 2013. I work at Içel Tekstil. I used to work in the same field in Syria but here the company I work for is larger. Initially it was a bit difficult but I got used to it gradually. Thanks to Ms. Seda, she helped me a lot.