TIDMVOD
Vodafone Group Plc
20 March 2018
Brussels, 20 March 2018
Vodafone launches world's largest international future jobs
programme to help up to 10 million young people find work
Vodafone today announced the launch of a ground-breaking
international future jobs programme "What will you be?" to provide
career guidance and access to training content in the digital
economy for up to 10 million young people across 18 countries(1) .
The Vodafone digital skills and jobs initiative is the largest of
its kind in the world.
In parallel, Vodafone also announced plans for a significant
increase in the number of young people brought into the company to
gain direct experience of the digital workplace. Vodafone will
expand its existing graduate, apprenticeship, internship and work
experience schemes worldwide(2) to reach a total of up to 100,000
young people by 2022.
The two initiatives were announced as Vodafone published the
results of a major international public opinion survey revealing
the extent to which young adults aged 18-24 believe they are
ill-equipped to participate in the digital economy despite being
the first generation to be "born digital".
The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that more
than 200 million young people are either unemployed or have a job
but live in poverty(3) . In many of the countries in which Vodafone
operates, youth unemployment is at record levels, from 38% in Italy
and 39% in Spain to 47% in Greece and 53% in South Africa(4) .
Previous studies have found that a prolonged period of unemployment
shortly after a young person leaves education to enter the
workforce can have a lifelong negative effect on individual
confidence, self-esteem and wellbeing.
Paradoxically, unemployment among young people is rising just as
businesses of all types and sizes are struggling to fill a wide
range of digital technology roles that are critical for future
growth. The European Commission estimates that around 500,000
digital jobs across the European Union will remain unfilled by
2020(5) .
Getting young people into work
Over the last year, Vodafone has worked with specialist
psychologists, careers advisers and training providers to develop a
smartphone-based service - called the Future Jobs Finder
(https://futurejobsfinder.vodafone.com/) - that offers young people
a simple but comprehensive gateway to new skills and opportunities
for employment in the digital economy.
The first step in the Future Jobs Finder is a series of quick
psychometric tests designed to identify each individual's aptitudes
and interests and then map these to the most appropriate job
category in the digital economy. In the second step, the individual
is directed to specific job opportunities in their chosen location,
including opportunities with Vodafone. Users can also access
relevant online digital skills training providers, with many of
these courses available for free. On completing the tests, users
also receive a summary of their skills and interests that can be
used on their C.V. or in a job application.
Getting young people into Vodafone
As a leading technology company, Vodafone has a strong employer
brand recognised by young people. In each of the 26 countries in
which Vodafone operates, there are well-established graduate,
apprenticeship and internship schemes as well as a wide range of
work experience opportunities including coding classes for high
school girls. Over the next five years, Vodafone will double the
number of opportunities offered to under-25s to experience the
world of work, reaching a total of 100,000. This represents the
largest commitment to training and development of young people
since the founding of Vodafone 33 years ago.
Unsupported and uncertain: young people and the digital
economy
Vodafone commissioned YouGov to ask 6,000 18-24 year olds in 15
countries(6) for their views on their future career aspirations and
concerns. The findings from the Vodafone-YouGovThe State of iGen(7)
research include:
-- more than two-thirds (67%) of young people interviewed said
they had received insufficient or no careers advice at any point in
their education or since leaving school or university;
-- of those who had received careers advice during their time in
education, just 15% said the careers advice they had received
included more future-focused digital jobs, 38% felt the advice they
had received was focused purely on traditional non-digital roles
and 22% said the careers advice they received was
'out-of-date';
-- more than half (56%) believe the greatest struggle for their
generation is to find any kind of well-paid permanent job, a
proportion rising to 64% among young women; and
-- more than one-fifth (23%) appear to have lost all confidence,
and worry they do not have the skills to take on any role, no
matter how basic.
The full The State of iGen research - including a
country-by-country breakdown and additional statistics - can be
found at:
https://yougov.co.uk/find-solutions/omnibus/international/vodafone-study-igen/.
ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said: "This is a timely and
welcome initiative by Vodafone. The digital economy has enormous
potential to create decent jobs for youth and act as a catalyst for
sustainable growth and development. This potential can only be
realised if young people are equipped with the skills needed by our
fast-changing economies. Tools such as the Future Job Finder can
help them get on the right path."
Vodafone Group Chief Executive Vittorio Colao said: "No society
can prosper if large numbers of its young people find themselves
excluded from employment. Throughout history, new technologies have
displaced established roles across multiple industries, narrowing
the range of job opportunities. However, as old roles fall away,
new roles emerge. Over time, every workplace will go digital,
creating accelerating demand for a wide range of specialist
technology skills. We want to help connect the new generation to
the new world of work."
- ends -
1 - Albania, Czech Republic, Egypt, Germany, Ghana, Greece,
Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, New Zealand, Portugal,
Romania, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, UK
2 - Albania, Czech Republic, Egypt, Germany, Ghana, Greece,
Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand,
Portugal, Qatar, Romania, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, UK, Vodafone
Group
3 -
http://www.ilo.org/global/research/global-reports/weso/2016/lang--en/index.htm
4 - https://data.oecd.org/unemp/youth-unemployment-rate.htm
5 -
https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/policies/digital-skills
6 - Czech Republic, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India,
Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal, Romania, South Africa,
Spain, Turkey, UK
7 - Vodafone / YouGov research, 2018:
https://yougov.co.uk/find-solutions/omnibus/international/vodafone-study-igen/
For further information:
Vodafone Group
Media Relations Investor Relations
www.vodafone.com/media/contact Telephone: +44 (0) 7919
990 230
About Vodafone
Vodafone Group is one of the world's largest telecommunications
companies and provides a range of services including voice,
messaging, data and fixed communications. Vodafone Group has mobile
operations in 26 countries, partners with mobile networks in 48
more, and fixed broadband operations in 19 markets. As of 31
December 2017, Vodafone Group had 529.1 million mobile customers
and 19.3 million fixed broadband customers, including India and all
of the customers in Vodafone's joint ventures and associates. For
more information, please visit: www.vodafone.com
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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