TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Sep 23, 2015) - As youth unemployment rates reach 13.1 per cent in August 2015, Nestlé Canada today announced the launch of its Youth Initiative, a multifaceted program designed to provide tangible training opportunities and experiences for more than 5,000 young adults over the next three years. In conjunction with the launch, Nestlé also released results from its Youth Employment Survey which reveals that while youth unemployment is a prevalent issue across Canada, only 25 per cent of Canadians say their place of employment offers intern/apprenticeship programs to help youth gain entry level experience. Nestlé Canada is addressing this gap through its Youth Initiative, a program that has been designed to help prepare young Canadians for the workforce and increase their employability.
Despite limited opportunities, the survey finds that the majority of Canadians (85 per cent) agree that youth are a dynamic force in the workplace. Given today's technologically-savvy environment, it is no surprise that Canadians deem the strongest skills and qualities that this demographic bring to the table are social media expertise (68 per cent) and IT knowledge (65 per cent). A strong percentage also recognize this group provides added value through their fresh perspective (58 per cent) and bridge the gap by tapping into today's trends and latest innovations (55 per cent).
Over the next three years, Nestlé's Youth Initiative will offer young Canadians the opportunity to develop their professional skills, increase their employability and expand their network. The value of this type of tangible work experience and hands-on training opportunity is unequivocal to Canadians, with nearly all (96 per cent) in agreement that internships and apprenticeship programs are valuable tools that help youth gain practical and valuable experience they can use to enter the workforce.
"We're thrilled to be launching the Youth Initiative in Canada as we've experienced first-hand the tremendous value young adults can bring to an organization," said Shelley Martin, President & CEO, Nestlé Canada. "The Youth Initiative focuses on an important need – helping students develop the necessary skills to prepare for the workforce while also building the pipeline for the next generation of leaders."
By providing internships, formalized training programs and 'readiness for work activities,' Nestlé is committed to helping young adults prepare for the future. The program builds on the success of Nestlé's Global Youth Initiative and is an extension of many of the programs already in place in the Canadian marketplace. The initiative consists of four pillars: