KUWAIT: Zain announced the selection of six talented Kuwaiti nationals to undertake the company's highly sort-after annual graduate program cycle for 2023. This year, the 'Generation Z' program is an evolution of the successful 'Z Twenty Two' (Z22) program undertaken in 2022 and other similar graduate programs Zain has implemented since 2016.

Generation Z remains geared towards enhancing the skills of fresh graduates and looks to cultivate internal entrepreneurs and innovators who already possess an entrepreneurial mindset to support Zain's 4Sight profitable growth strategy.

Additional new themes for this year include Empowerment, Advocacy, and Courage to Engage in alignment with Zain's recently revamped inclusion competencies. This progression is in harmony with the new generation's desire to be heard, challenged, and leave an everlasting mark in the workplace.

Zain's graduate program has built up substantial recognition and standing in Kuwait and indeed across the region. Competition for places in the program is fierce, with the Generation Z 2023 program attracting applications from a total of 300 candidates. Of these, 85 were invited for first-round interviews; 20 for second round; and just 12 were shortlisted to undertake a week-long assessment. Ultimately, six candidates were selected to participate in the year-long program.

Bader Al-Kharafi, Zain Vice-Chairman and Group CEO commented, "To support the continued success of Zain's 4Sight growth strategy, embracing change rather than fearing it, is key to its success. As such, it takes young talent, or "new blood" like the incoming Generation Z participants to help keep us at the cutting edge of innovation, by being courageous and agile in identifying evolving opportunities."

Al-Kharafi continued, "I'm extremely impressed by the caliber of incoming participants and wholeheartedly encourage them to make the most of this opportunity to super charge their careers and play their future role in taking Zain to new heights."

This year, Generation Z will adopt a project-based format, following a 'learn then apply' methodology. Each quarter, the participants will focus on one of four topics, namely, Youth; Inclusion; Corporate Wellness; and Innovation. The development and deliverables will be centered around this approach, with the graduates applying what they have learnt during the quarter.

The "Generation Z" program seeks to foster talented individuals with the mindset of creativity and innovation, with the long-term aim of them playing a key role in supporting the company's growth strategy, which has recently gained tremendous momentum in the core telecom business as well as in multiple promising new areas including Fintech, Esports, the DizleeAPI platform, Infrastructure sharing, as well as ZainTech's many digital transformation offerings for governments and enterprises covering areas of managed cloud services, Big Data, Internet of Things, Cybersecurity, Drones and Robotics to name a few.

It is planned that all six 'Generation Z' participants, namely Abdullah Al-Zaid, Lina Shammas, Muneera Al-Jeeran, Noor Al-Musallam, Abdullah Al-Awadi and Ismail Dashti are recruited once the program is completed end of 2023. Of the five participants in the Z22 program in 2022, four were recruited as full-time employees to Zain. The Generation Z 2023 graduate program remit falls under one of the pillars of Zain's Corporate Sustainability strategy of 'Build the Youth of the Future" and the Diversity & Inclusion strategic pillar of "Zain Youth" (ZY) that fosters the growth of youth employees.