Nestlé and Alliance for YOUth are to create 300,000 new opportunities to support young people by 2025

The COVID-19 pandemic has a huge impact on society, especially young people. The latest statistics show this: youth unemployment is again on the rise, with more than 3 million in Europe. More than ever, efforts are needed to support young people and avoid isolating a generation.  Nestlé Needs YOUth and Alliance for YOUth have announced that they will create 300,000 new opportunities for young people in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa by 2025, a release shows.

Launched by Nestlé in 2014, Alliance for YOUth brings together companies that want to help young people enter the labour market, and wants to give the younger generation the right digital and sustainable skills to shape tomorrow’s society.

“Investing in the education and training of the young generation must be a priority and is the most important investment for a society that wants to evolve. We are glad that 604 young people have found a job and we have managed to create 228 internship and training positions in Romania since the beginning of this program. Regardless of the times we are going through, we will continue and adapt, so that our programs reach as many young people as possible”, says Leszek Wacirz, Country Manager Nestlé Romania.

The specific actions included in the Nestle Needs YOUth initiative are:

Offering 20,000 new employment opportunities and 20,000 apprenticeships and internships in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa by 2025. Since the launch of Nestlé Needs YOUth initiative in 2013, the company has already offered over 26,000 apprenticeships and internship programs. During the quarantine period, Nestlé organized digital courses for his apprentices to allow them to complete their curriculum. Nestlé also engages in virtual initiatives to enable young people to gain professional experience, despite COVID-19.

In Romania, 228 young people participated in internship and training programs, and more than 3,800 young people were present in over 100 events dedicated to developing their skills and supporting their employability. Together with our partners we have been able to involve more than 18,000 young people at the national level.

Digital skills. Nestlé launches YOUth eBusiness Academy. Apprentices and students enrolled in the program will acquire advanced digital skills (search, data, e-commerce) and eventually obtain official certification. In 2019, Nestlé launched a partnership with Microsoft to enable factory apprentices to obtain a certification for digital skills. Particular attention will be paid to this project in Romania and throughout the South Eastern European region, where the European Commission draws attention to the low rate of digitisation among young people. Just over 50% of young Romanians had a minimum level of knowledge and skills in the digital space at 2019 level.

Online “work preparation” activities. Nestlé continues to organize and participate in digital career fairs and workshops to support young jobseekers. These activities are recurring in Romania, recalling among them large-scale projects, such as: summer school, digital CV Campaigns or youth webinars. In the context of this year, Romania has transformed the summer school into a regional virtual project “Summer’s Cool”, whereby, for 3 weeks, students from Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Croatia participated in interactive workshops on various topics: marketing, digital, e-commerce, trade marketing, financial, human resources, leadership, etc. Nestlé also organizes time management and marketing workshops during the European Professional Skills Week, where participants learn how to make the transition to work easier. Nestlé will also launch this year’s CV Clinic campaign, and invites students to submit their CVs, and the company’s recruiters and human resources professionals will provide them with optimization and improvement tips to increase their chances of getting a job. Within the programme, through involvement and knowledge transfer, we put the right tools for their future job at the disposal of young people. The next edition of the event takes place from 9-14 November and we expect as many participants as possible.

For the first time this year, in November 2020, Nestlé will launch an international program aimed at young people with culinary skills together with the company’s out-of-home division under the young Culinary Talents umbrella.

Promoting entrepreneurship. Under the leadership of EY, Nestlé and Alliance for YOUth join forces with Junior Achievement Europe – Europe’s largest provider of entrepreneurship education – to help young Europeans develop entrepreneurial skills. Through this partnership, over the past three years more than 550 students have already obtained international qualifications for entrepreneurial skills. Starting this year, a partnership is also implemented at the local level, which will benefit more than 400 high school young people, through classroom activities, webinars and dedicated events with Nestlé Romania volunteers.

Supporting entrepreneurship in agriculture. Nestlé works with young farmers to expand sustainable farming practices. Nestlé wants to strengthen its programmes with farmers to accelerate the transition to the zero carbon supply chain. This will help Nestlé achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Climate change and digital transformation are some of the many challenges facing society. Through these actions, Nestlé wants to equip the younger generation with the right skills to meet these challenges. Nestlé and Alliance for YOUth will provide regular updates on their commitments and activities.