How we’re getting young people ready for work

Posted 02/11/2016

By 2030, 65% of Generation Z will have jobs that don’t exist today. That’s nearly two-thirds of the generation – a huge proportion, by any standards. It beckons the question: how can businesses help the future workforce get ready for work, when we have little idea of the skills that will be required?

It’s time to think differently about how we develop young people. After all, if we just focus on developing the skills needed right now, all of this hard work will be defunct in just a few short years.

Our research found that Millennials will have longer careers than any previous generation. In fact, 27% expect to be working over the age of 70, and 12% don’t think they will ever be in a position to retire. As a result, employers need to place more emphasis on nurturing ‘learnability’ – an individual’s desire and ability to develop in-demand skills. Nurturing young people in this way will empower them to continually upskill and reskill. As skill requirements evolve in years to come, this ‘learnability’ will ensure they can keep themselves employable.

At ManpowerGroup, that’s exactly what we’ve been doing. We’re invested in a number of programmes, to create opportunities that will help tomorrow’s talent move into work and up the career ladder. Here are a few of the ways we’re helping young people get ready for work – in the UK, and all around the world:

Developing Work-Readiness

We’re proud to partner with Junior Achievement. This is the world’s largest non-profit organisation dedicated to young people’s work readiness. Over the last decade, we’ve invested over $2 million and thousands of volunteering hours. This has allowed us to deliver successful, long-term programmes which build work-readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy.

As part of this ongoing partnership, we’ve also pledged a quarter of a million dollars to digitise materials on Junior Achievement’s USA Education Gateway. This blended approach to learning will build students’ IT skills and develop essential workplace skills for thousands more students in the future.

Skilling Up Graduates

In universities across Thailand, we offer coaching and career conversations to students. By applying our knowledge of in-demand skills, we help graduates to be employable for the long-term. We partner with more than 30 leading education institutes, the Office of the Vocational Education Commission and the Ministry of Education, to reach graduates at a critical time.

It’s our business to identify the skills that young people need to secure in-demand roles. And Manpower Malaysia is doing exactly that with our Recruit, Train, Deploy, Manage Graduate Programme. So far, we’ve trained and found roles for over 300 graduates.

Nurturing Entrepreneurial Skills

In Spain, we’re partners with Unilever, piloting their summer youth employment programme. This programme aims to create a brilliant future for 10,000 young people in the continent.

As Unilever’s recruitment partner, we assessed and selected participants from among 25,000 applicants. We provided training and deployed 410 young people as ice-cream sellers in more than 213 locations in Spain and Portugal.

Developing Skills and Experience

It’s hard to get on the career ladder without the crucial combination of skills and experience. However, all too often, it’s a catch 22 situation. After all, you can’t get a job without experience; and you can’t get experience without a job.

That’s why ManpowerGroup UK is part of Movement to Work. Alongside the likes of Accenture, Barclays, BT, Marks & Spencer and Unilever, we’re helping young people – who are not in education, employment or training – acquire the skills and confidence they need to secure rewarding employment. For example, we’re providing trainees with practical work experience in our offices. And we’re also getting them ready for work by providing job preparation workshops. This includes classes in CV writing, interview preparation, and how to use social media for work.

To find out more about how ManpowerGroup is doing well by doing good, download our 2016 Sustainability Report.

Mark Cahill

Mark Cahill is Managing Director of ManpowerGroup in the UK, a Regional Managing Director of ManpowerGroup Northern Europe, and European leader for RPO and for TAPFIN, ManpowerGroup’s MSP and vendor neutral solution. As Managing Director, he is responsible for the UK’s conception and delivery of industry-leading workforce solutions to clients and candidates to succeed. He is also responsible for driving the company’s Managed Service Programme (MSP) and Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) offerings in Europe. A 29-year veteran of ManpowerGroup, Mark was previously Chief Executive of Brook Street, and has held roles such as Financial Director and Managing Director of the ManpowerGroup-owned company. Mark also performs an advisory role influencing government and agency bodies, and regularly contributes to industry-wide discussions. In 2014 he was appointed Chairman of the CBI’s London Council, following several years of active participation.