Youth on the Move: Elevating young people for the new world of work
07 October 2010
I want to share my reflections on the recent announcement of the “Youth on The Move” initiative launched by the European Commission. First of all, I was very pleased to see how much this initiative recognizes that opening doors to employability is at the heart of Europe’s success in 2020. Microsoft is a partner in this journey.
I am enthused to see that Generation Y and the new world of work have been captured in the first single EU-level strategy embracing both education and employment as a key facet of the Europe 2020 agenda. This provides industry, government and the third sector a healthy platform for collaboration to reduce a youth unemployment rate that is unacceptably high at almost 21 % in Europe. Let’s take this opportunity to have a look at what is being said:
László Andor, the
European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion:
"Finding a job is what millions of young Europeans are most concerned about. Youth on the Move will create new momentum at EU and national level to improve support for young people so that they can find a job, make a living and pursue their own plans.”
"Young people face the ongoing challenges of a labour market for which high and up-to-date skills, adaptability and mobility will be the keys to success."
At Microsoft we see this advanced policy framework as a useful overarching umbrella for our investments in youth and workforce development ‘anytime, anywhere learning’. This runs core to all of all our education, certification and training initiatives at Microsoft therefore we have a strong opportunity to work together with other industry leaders and take up a position of leadership to support the success of the ‘’Youth on the Move’’ initiative. Using this platform as a basis, I believe that we can scale-up and push the geographic boundaries of our programmes by means of further collaboration and dialogue.
If anyone can put Europe back on the map and prevent ‘a lost decade’ it is the youth. This belief compels me to take ongoing leadership in the following positions, as chair of WEF European advisory group on entrepreneurship, board member to AIESEC, the world’s largest student organisation and Junior Achievement Young Enterprise. Without a doubt we are dependent upon young people and the skills that they possess to drive the kind of sustainable and innovative economy that we envisage for Europe!
I am pleased that these steps have been put in place by DG Education and Culture alongside DG Employment. This will allow joint partnership and leadership to implement innovative education platforms to put more young people into jobs. Please do stay tuned on this site for best-practices from across the member states that respond directly to ‘’Youth on the move’’!
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