According to Eurostat data there were more than 20 000 unemployed people in the age of 15 - 24 in Latvia in 2013. To tackle this challenge in Latvia, Microsoft Latvia in partnership with the Latvian Information and Communication Technology Association (LIKTA) under the Microsoft YouthSpark global initiative in 2013/2014 organized an educational project the „IT For My Future Career".

The goal of the project "IT For My Future Career" was to increase young people competitiveness in labor market targeting three regions of Latvia with the highest youth unemployment rate. During the project 200 young people participated in teaching sessions learning how to apply IT skills in business environment and their future career - Office 365 tools, Infogr.am as well as digital marketing tools, etc. After the training each of the 200 participants of the first tier passed their knowledge to five other young people, thus strengthening their IT and leadership skills, as well. Overall 1200 young people were educated.

Signe Bāliņa, President of LIKTA: "As the result of the project "IT For My Future Career", youngsters are more prepared for the labor market and more motivated to continue education in this field. The survey shows that 30% of those who were involved in the project want to perfect themselves and acquire new knowledge, while 32% of participants want to use ICT skills for future labor needs or choose ICT as a profession.

Anete Lasmane, one of the students: "Participation in the project supported by YouthSpark and LIKTA gave me the opportunity to share my knowledge and skills with other youth to gain confidence, of what I've learned."