Industry & Business

Around 200 companies have joined forces under Nestlé’s Alliance for YOUth to tackle the youth unemployment crisis in Europe, pledging to create more than 100,000 opportunities for young people in the coming years.

In the context of a challenging economic environment, with little to no growth, the Alliance for YOUth is committed to working hand in hand with policy-makers and the education sector to foster both job employability and job creation.

“With more than 200 companies from all over Europe, the Alliance for YOUth is the first pan-European business-driven movement pledging to help young people be better prepared to enter the professional world and improve their chances in a challenging job market,” says Laurent Freixe, CEO of Nestlé Europe.

According to a new survey carried out by Nielsen, 23% of young people in Europe see unemployment as the biggest problem faced by society over the next five to 10 years. The survey was done for the Alliance initiative.

Some 55% of those questioned who were unemployed said that governments were most to blame for not resolving the lack of opportunity for young people.

Around 2,000 young people across the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain aged between 18 and 29 years of age took part in the survey. The results also revealed that 40% of those within the 21–24 age group feared that job prospects in their country were not good over the next 12 months.

The Alliance for YOUth companies have pledged to develop a number of joint and individual initiatives to give young people meaningful work experience and internships, generating more than 100,000 jobs and training opportunities.

Nestlé has created close to 8,000 opportunities in the last eight months.