Ideas worth spreading

Virtualizing employment in Saudi Arabia

Alexander Tuerpitz • TED@BCG Berlin

Unemployment programs must maintain a delicate balance: ensure there is ample support for people in need, while catalyzing the process of getting them back to work. Alexander Tuerpitz proposes a workable plan that replaces long lines and complicated paperwork with online courses, Twitter-based customer service and a frequent flyer-like incentive program. In Saudi Arabia, he brought these ideas to life with rousing success, showing what many people truly want from their unemployment programs: support to get back to work.

Unemployment programs must maintain a delicate balance: ensure there is ample support for people in need, while catalyzing the process of getting them back to work. Alexander Tuerpitz proposes a workable plan that replaces long lines and complicated paperwork with online courses, Twitter-based customer service and a frequent flyer-like incentive program. In Saudi Arabia, he brought these ideas to life with rousing success, showing what many people truly want from their unemployment programs: support to get back to work.

About the speaker

Alexander Tuerpitz

Alexander Tuerpitz

Employment innovator

Alexander Tuerpitz is BCG’s Public Sector practice leader for the Middle East and has served as the Global Topic Leader for Labor Markets, Employment and Welfare. He is an expert on public policies, strategy, operations and IT and has worked across Europe, the US, Asia and the Middle East. He has served as a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on gender parity.

About TED Institute

Every year, TED works with a group of select companies and foundations to identify internal ideators, inventors, connectors, and creators. Drawing on the same rigorous regimen that has prepared speakers for the TED main stage, TED Institute works closely with each partner, overseeing curation and providing intensive one-on-one talk development to sharpen and fine tune ideas. The culmination is an event produced, recorded, and hosted by TED, generating a growing library of valuable TED Talks that can spur innovation and transform organizations.

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