Mobile shopping site Shopee has partnered with the De La Salle University (DLSU) Industrial & Systems Engineering (ISE) department to educate graduating students on the current industry landscape and generate studies to further improve the field.
Shopee said the Philippines e-commerce industry continues to grow rapidly and is poised to reach a gross market value of $22 billion by 2025 according to a report by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company.
Through the partnership, Shopee and DLSU designed capstone and thesis projects for senior engineering students. These projects revolved around conceptualizing ideas to increase productivity and maximize the current infrastructure to improve overall efficiency.
As part of the partnership, students who participated were able to directly consult with Shopee leaders to gather data and insights for their research.
To educate even more students across the Industrial Engineering (IE) department, Shopee also took over a Retail IE class to facilitate a session on the e-commerce landscape, evolution, and ecosystem in the Philippines.
“As the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia, Shopee remains committed to supporting local tech talent and the development of the e-commerce industry in the Philippines,” Karen Perez, head of people at Shopee Philippines, said.
“We believe in enabling local tech talent as the digital economy continues to grow so they can access more opportunities to become future leaders. Through this partnership with DLSU ISE, we are glad to make a difference in shaping these young minds and we hope that they will apply what they have learned to make an impact to the industry in years to come.”
Charlle Sy, DLSU ISE department chair, added: “Because of Shopee’s efforts in exposing ISE students to the entire ecosystem, our students have been eyeing careers in e-commerce after they graduate. Some even have a clear sense of which departments they would like to get into in Shopee already. We hope that more of our students will be inspired to contribute to the growth of this industry through our partnership with Shopee.”
The academic partnership with DLSU is among the e-commerce company’s many initiatives to train young tech talent. Late last year, Shopee opened applications for its 2023 Graduate programs which aims to fast-track the growth of fresh graduates and young professionals and prepare them to take on key leadership positions upon program completion.
Earlier in November, Shopee also wrapped up its first ever Ultimate Case Challenge, a business case competition widely participated in by undergraduate Filipino students from across the globe. The company also frequents universities to engage students and spark their interest in exploring a career in e-commerce.