Transnational Access to Learning, Experience, Networks, and Training (TALENT)

Lebanon is experiencing one of the most severe economic crises in modern history, with youth unemployment remaining critically high and access to internships and entry-level employment increasingly limited. University students and recent graduates face significant barriers to gaining practical experience due to private sector contraction, limited links to international labor markets, and restricted physical mobility related to visa constraints, costs, and instability.

As a result, many capable young people are unable to develop career-relevant experience, increasing the risk of long-term exclusion and contributing to ongoing brain drain.

At the same time, organizations and companies in Switzerland face growing labor shortages driven by demographic change and rising demand for specialized skills. While many are interested in international collaboration and accessing diverse talent pools, administrative complexity and perceived risks often limit cross-border engagement.

The TALENT pilot project addresses these parallel challenges by testing a structured remote internship model that connects university students in Lebanon with organizations and companies in Switzerland. By enabling remote collaboration, the project reduces mobility barriers for young people while offering Swiss organizations and companies a low-risk opportunity to engage with international talent, generate concrete outputs, and explore new forms of cross-border cooperation.

The TALENT project aims to promote equity and reduce social and economic inequalities by expanding access to international work experience for young people from structurally disadvantaged contexts.

Through a structured remote internship model, the project enables participating students in Lebanon to gain practical, career-relevant experience, strengthen professional and transversal skills, and increase their future employability.

At the same time, the project supports organizations and companies in Switzerland to explore innovative, low-risk approaches to engaging with international talent. By facilitating meaningful remote collaboration, the project seeks to generate mutual learning, practical outputs, and evidence to inform the development of a future scalable cross-border talent programme.

The TALENT pilot successfully implements a remote internship programme that creates tangible learning and collaboration outcomes for participating students and organizations. Students strengthen professional skills, gain international exposure, and improve their readiness for future employment or further studies, while organizations benefit from fresh perspectives, targeted project support, and experience new collaboration models.

Through structured recruitment, preparation, and continuous mentoring, internships are implemented with clear scopes, defined deliverables, and ongoing coordination. Regular check-ins and feedback mechanisms support quality implementation and address challenges related to remote work and collaboration.

Lessons learned, success stories, and evaluation findings are documented and consolidated to inform future scale-up and programme development.