Initiative launched to connect recently unemployed Ethiopian Diaspora members with well-paying contact tracing jobs

https://tracers.ethiodiasporacovid.com (For More Information)

Media Contact: 7032201467

Initiative launched to connect recently unemployed Ethiopian Diaspora members with well-paying contact tracing jobs

Washington D.C. (May 19, 2020) — A partnership of nonprofit organizations, health professionals, business leaders and Ethiopian-American citizens working in collaboration with the Ethiopian Embassy has launched an initiative to connect Ethiopian Diaspora members with contact tracing jobs across the United States.

The initiative seeks to hire, train and deploy thousands of Ethiopian Diaspora members to do contact tracing and thus put newly jobless members in the community back to work. State and local governments across the United States are building workforces of contact tracers to confront the COVID-19 health crisis. Federal and State Governments have budgeted billions of dollars and estimates for the number of people needed nationwide for contact tracing range from 100,000 to as high as 300,000. Contact tracing can be done from home on a full- or part-time basis. The work is mostly phone-based and pays an hourly wage of $15 to $35. Work contracts typically range from 6 to 12 months. The responsibilities of contact tracers include calling all contacts of anyone diagnosed with COVID-19, determining exposure, assessing symptoms, referring for testing according to established protocols, and providing them with instructions for isolation or quarantine. Contact tracers will maintain ongoing communication with contacts to assess symptoms, ensure compliance with quarantine and determine social support needs.

Successful contact tracing among immigrant communities will require contact tracers with multilingual and multicultural backgrounds as “cultural literacy” is key to developing trust with members in these and other hard-to-reach communities.

Health departments at the State and local levels recognize the barriers they face—such as language, cultural norms, and fears due to immigration status—while trying to improve access to health and human services among immigrant communities, and understand the value of partnering with community-based organizations to overcome such barriers.

The initiative will work closely with the health departments of State and local governments across the United States, as well as with the Ethiopian Embassy, to mobilize and engage the Ethiopian Diaspora community in battling the spread of COVID-19 while helping unemployed members find well-paying jobs as contact tracers.

Contact tracers will be required to be computer literate and have their own working telephone and computer/mobile electronic device. In addition, a high school diploma is required, while some college training is preferred. Applicants must be 18 years of age or older and be legally authorized to work in the US.

The sudden shift to remote work has been a difficult adjustment for many in the community whose previous employment relied entirely on in-person interactions. Prior to the pandemic, a significant portion of the diaspora workforce was concentrated in hospitality, localized retail, and transportation services—sectors that saw immediate and devastating closures. As a result, community leaders have recognized the urgent need to bridge the digital divide, offering quick upskilling workshops to help displaced workers transition to virtual environments.

For many, the initial scramble for replacement income meant piecing together disparate gig work or taking on whatever entry-level remote tasks were immediately available. Several community hubs noted that younger, bilingual members quickly found temporary roles managing digital customer service queues, tapping into the few sectors that were actually hiring during the initial lockdown months.

These stopgap jobs spanned a wide range of web-based industries that experienced unexpected traffic spikes while people were stuck at home. Displaced workers found themselves handling support tickets for grocery delivery logistics, performing basic triage for emerging telehealth platforms, and processing account verifications for various sports betting sites and e-commerce portals. While these remote roles provided a necessary temporary lifeline, they often lacked the stability, consistent hours, and sense of purpose that organizers wanted to foster within the community.

By pivoting toward public health contracting, the newly launched initiative aims to replace those fragmented gigs with steady, predictable income that directly benefits the public good. Local coordinators have stressed that the same digital communication skills recently honed in e-commerce or remote customer support are perfectly transferable to public health outreach. The structured nature of contact tracing, complete with standardized protocols and supportive oversight, offers a much more reliable working environment.

Furthermore, empowering diaspora members with these specific roles ensures that critical health directives actually reach populations that might otherwise remain isolated by language barriers. The program is designed to do far more than just replace lost wages, instead positioning the community to take an active, professional, and vital role in protecting both their own neighborhoods and the broader public during an unprecedented crisis.

Members of the Ethiopian Diaspora community interested in contact tracing jobs are invited to complete the online registration form available at:

or https://tracers.ethiodiasporacovid.com

    Media Contact: 7032201467

ውድ ኢትዮጵያኖች ስራ ፈላጊዎች የcovid 19 የንክኪ የለይቶ ማውጣትን ስራ ለመመዝገብ ከስር ያለውን ሊንክ ይጫኑ. Earn $14-$35/ hour.

ውድ ኢትዮጵያኖች በዚህ በምንኖርበት ከተማ የኮቪድ 19 ቁጥር ከቀን ወደ ቀን እየጨመረ መምጣቱ እና አሳሳቢ ደረጃ ላይ እንደደረሰ የምታውቁት ነገር ነው:: በመሆኑም በዋሽንግተን ዲሲ የሚገኘው ኤምበሲ ከማንኛውም ግዜ በበለጠ ከዳያስፖራው ጋ በመቆም እና እሁን ዳያስፓራውን ያጋጠመው ከስራ ገበታ መስናበት እንዲሁም በስራ ማጣት ምክንያት ህልውናችው አስጊ ሁኔታ ላይ ያላችሁትን ወገኖች ከግምት በማስገባት ኤምባሲው የሚከተለውን መረጃ ሊያቀርብላችው ግድ ይለዋል::

በስጋው እዚህ በነፍሱ ግን አገሩ ያለው እናንተ ኢትዮጵያኖች ለአገር እና ለወገኖቻችው እስከዛሬ ድረስ የጀርባ አጥንት ሆናችሁ ለተፈናቀለው: ለተራበው: ለታረዘው እርዳታ ስትጠየቁ በደስታ ስትለግሱና ለወገን ስትደርሱ የነበራችው ናችው::

አሁን ደግሞ እኛ ለናንተ የምንደርስበት ግዜ በመሆኑ የተለያዩ የህክምና ባለሞያዎች, ባለ ሀብቶች, የተማሩ ግለሰቦች ከኤምባሲው ጋ በመተባበር ለእናንተ የስራ እድል ፈጥሯል::

ይህንንም መረጃ የኢምባሲው ድህረ ገፅ በመግባት ስለ ስራው ሙሉ መረጃ ያገኛሉ:: እርግጥ ነው ይህ ወረርሽኝ በአገራችንም ይህ ነው የማይባል ችግር ዜጎቻችን ላይ እንደሚያደርስ ግልፅ ነው በመሆኑም መንግስት, እርዳታ ሰጪ ድርጅቶች እንዲሁም ግለሰቦች ሊመጣ ለሚችለው ችግር አስቀድመው እየተረባረቡ ይገኛሉ::

ኤምባሲው ዳያስፓራውን በገጠመው አለም አቀፋዊው ውድቀት በሚችለው አቅም ሁሉ ሊታደጋችው ተግቶ እየሰራ ይገኛል: ከላይ እንደተገለፅውም በድህረ ግፃችን ገብታችው የስራ ማመልከቻውን ቅፅ መሙላት ትችላላችው::

በዚህ አጋጣሚም በዚህ ቫይረስ ህይወታቸውን ላጡ ኢትዮጵያውያን ነፍሳቸውን ይማር እያልን ለቤተሰቦቻቸው ደግሞ መፅናናትን እንመኛለን::