Companies can also forge partnerships with training institutions to revamp curricular and engage in cooperative curricular delivery so that young people graduating are able to take up jobs effectively leveraging technologies including generative AI to be more efficient.
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At Youth Business International, weâve placed huge emphasis on quality mentoring support for young entrepreneurs - hereâs a link to our report on what weâve learned works for young entrepreneurs including details on the critical role of mentoring. Entrepreneurship within reach: Connecting young people to opportunity - Youth Business International
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The multifactorial approach with several systems really would facilitate the process.
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Additionally, on the issue of going beyond hard skills businesses can also put in place strong succession planning that is driven by intergenerational skills transfer and coaching. While youths learn and gain experience from the older generation they also bring in their tech savvy skills which can be beneficial to the older generation thus improving overall company productivity.
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At YBI, weâre often asked about whatâs unique about young entrepreneurs as opposed to older entrepreneurs. The one constant is simply their youth. On the one hand they have great ambition, energy, courage in setting up new business. On the other hand, they are at the start of their entrepreneurial lives, and donât yet have all the experience, connections, and assets that they will gain over their lives. Thatâs why mentoring, and and more broadly what we call access to the âenabling environmentâ is so critical.
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Sharing a report from a few years ago that looked, over 2 years, at the impact of mentoring. The key take away is that @75% of young entrepreneurs say that mentors were the biggest factor in their business growth.
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I am Moses Wamari from The Youth Cafe - a leading Youth empowerment organisation in Africa. Nice to be here
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I am leading work young people as entrepreneurs and mentoring has been the key driver of skills transfer, business linkages and formation of networks that are creating decent employment for young people in regenerative agriculture
Transforming Rural Economies and Youth Livelihoods - Practical Action
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***Our question number two today:
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There are quite a few businesses that are getting it right especially in the domain of refugee employment that Naâamal focuses on. For example, during the Migration Sumit 2023 an event hosted by Naâamal Massachusetts Institute of Technology Refugee Action Hub (MIT REACT) and Karam Foundation which was hosted in April 2023 and is a month-long global convening focused on building bridges between diverse communities of displaced learners, universities, companies, social enterprises, policymakers, and governments, we learned about companies like Appen, CONCAT, Accenture, and Somos.
Appen, has committed to providing refugees in Naâamalâs and partners training in Ethiopia with short-term-gig work to provide youth with employment. Appen also spoke about their âfair payâ policy, which reviews pay rates in each country, sets rates at or above minimum wage, and calculates pay for tasks based on minimum wage standards. This ensures that the individuals who end up working for them are being compensated fairly and adequately.
CONCAT designs and builds top quality, affordable websites for impactful companies and organisations around the world with all their developers being refugees or women from countries of conflict. Due to their targeted employment opportunities aiding refugee populations, they are directly contributing to the employability of refugee and other displaced youth world-wide.
SOMOS, a social enterprise focused on language learning, empowers online language teachers, with a focus on impact sourcing and hiring refugees helping numerous refugee youth access dependable employment.
Through Accentureâs approach to inclusive hiring practices for refugees, including leadership support, considering transferable skills, creating a single point of entry for talent, and dedicated recruiting teams, the need for companies to invest in the hiring process and provide support and education to hiring managers becomes apparent. Accentureâs efforts to learn and understand the refugee community, including the establishment of an employee resource group for refugees has played a key role in ensuring refugee youth employability in a contextualised way.
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While youth employability is a global challenge facing many young people, there are additional challenges for young people without parental care, who face additional barriers in starting their careers (e.g. cannot access parentsâ networks and contacts for work experience or advice).
The global YouthCan! partnership between SOS Childrenâs Villages International - an organisation supporting children and young people who have lost or are at risk of losing parental care - and businesses including Deutsche Post DHL, AkzoNobel and Allianz works to address these challenges by providing mentoring, internships, training and career days, so young people have a foundation upon which to build their careers. This partnership shows the transformative power of early career opportunities on the lives of young people who would otherwise struggle to kick start their careers.
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1.Internship programs during academic years (university)
Recollecting my experiences while I was in university, there were initiatives that allowed students to practice in work settings. Public and private hospitals allowed university students like me to gain clinical experience through internships even as a student, giving me a brief overview of how working as a nurse would be. It helped me alot as it facilitated the transition of being a student to an actual working adult, slowly aiding by allowing students to integrate to the workplace settingsâ culture and demands. Furthermore, I believe this approach can be utilized by businesses from different fields as it would hone the skill-sets of youth members within a community.
2.Mock interviews, career days, mentoring schemes or workplace tours
Creating bridges between education and employment is a must. Businesses are able to foster a culture that exposes young job seekers and students to the workplace through events or activities like mock interviews, career days, mentorship programs, and office tours. Mock interviews can serve as a vessel to prepare students on how to handle stressful and overwhelming interviews they may encounter in the future, giving them the idea on the common questions asked in a usual interview. As for career days, it would require the collaboration of businesses and educational institutions, students may be sent to the workplace setting or the event may be arranged within school grounds to bring awareness to the different work opportunities existing. Consequently, mentorship programs have been effective for both companies and youth as it not only prepares them for the workplace environment but also enables professional growth among employees as they tap on their educational and training skills. Additionally, office tours may help acquaint students to recognize workflows and visualize how a common day at work would look like. Ultimately, for the young individuals participating, these activities will significantly boost job opportunities and raise earning potential.
References: Conyers, R. (2022, January 18). How Businesses can Support Young People | Sport 4 Life UK. Sport 4 Life UK. How Businesses can Support Young People | Sport 4 Life UK
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At YBI, we partner with organisations drawn from the worlds of banking, technology, consulting and international retail, amongst others, and this has given us a lot of experience in the corporate/youth entrepreneurship junction. I see someone has already mentioned Accenture, and they have been leading the way with their Skills to Succeed programme.
. A key aspect of our partnership has been stimulating innovation and digital approaches for both YBI members and young entrepreneurs, alongside building the core capabilities of members around the world in skills such as mentoring and training. The partnership is now poised to drive value through sustainability and inclusionâ together, we help enable young people to become responsible business leaders and a powerful force for change.
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Help young people gain the skills needed to thrive in the future of work. Businesses should provide training and development programs focusing on technical and digital skills. This could include data-driven decision-making, coding, digital marketing, and other related skills.
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Facilitate meaningful opportunities for professional development and learning. Invest in creating efficiencies, allowing young people to further their education and career goals.
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I think the best examples are really where companies have a clear mission perspective on supporting young people into jobs or creating businesses AND combine that with their core business skills. At YBI, weâve been working with the Futuremakers by Standard Chartered global initiative to tackle economic inequality and promote greater economic inclusion for disadvantaged young people in our communities. Working with young entrepreneurs across across Africa, Asia and Europe weâve combined the core of effective support ( such as webinars, mentoring and business clinics, coaching and advisory support) with the critical financial insights and support by Standard Chartered employees â really focusing on groups like are traditionally disadvantaged or excluded from formal financial support.
The current programme aims to provide in-depth support to 14,155 young entrepreneurs and crucial support to 30,000 young people wanting to start or strengthen their business. Priority will be given to traditionally disadvantaged business owners including rural, female entrepreneurs, business owners with disabilities and visual impairments and those excluded from formal financial support.
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Starbucks: Starbucks launched an initiative to address youth unemployability by offering employment opportunities to young people ages 16â24, across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Starbucks has pledged to employ 10,000 youth over the next five years in partnership with Youth Employment UK and the Youth Business International.
Cisco: Cisco Systems launched its global âClose the Gapâ program to help bring more youth into the technology sector. The program combines education initiatives, access to technology, mentorship, and job training, with the aim of providing employability skills and opportunities to disadvantaged and marginalized individuals.
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Google: Google.org, the charitable arm of Google, has invested $50 million in the US2020, a technology-focused initiative to create over 3 million opportunities for youth employability. Through the program, Google and its partners are providing youth access to technology and mentorship to support their career development.
Amazonâs Action on Employment: Amazon partners with local governments, organizations, and businesses to tackle youth unemployment and connect young people to new jobs and careers. Through the Amazon Technical Academy, Amazon works to close the tech skills gap and engage more than 150,000 young adults in tech-related apprenticeships, internships, and job opportunities