Nestlé Germany is offering internships, traineeships, and apprenticeships to more than 1,000 young people, including additional offers dedicated to young refugees to help them integrate into their new society. Photo: Nestlé

Nestlé believes that to prosper over the long term and create value for our shareholders, we must also create value for society. As the world’s largest food and beverage company, we have a unique opportunity and responsibility to play an active part in the communities where we live and work, support youth and contribute to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Never has this been more relevant than in the current context, where so many youth lack economic opportunities.

Driven by our purpose of enhancing quality of life and contributing to a healthier future, we are launching Nestlé’s Global Youth Initiative, a groupwide scheme comprising our entire value chain to help young people forge a better future for themselves and their communities. Our ambition by 2030 is to help develop economic opportunities for 10 million youth around the world in the communities in which we operate by promoting professional agriculture, innovation, entrepreneurship in our upstream supply chain, as well as apprenticeships, traineeships, vocational training and dual education systems. This helps alleviate poverty, promote social stability and secure a better future for all. For our company, it lines up a diverse and inclusive future talent pipeline, ensures the long-term sustainability of our supply chains, and helps the company enhance its innovation culture and entrepreneurial spirit. 

Youth unemployment is a serious issue across the world, with the International Labour Organization estimating that the global youth unemployment rate will reach 71 million (13.1 percent) in 2017. In the EU-28 youth unemployment is 18.4 percent, whilst in Latin American and the Caribbean stands at 17.1 percent and in Northern Africa at 29 percent. Moreover, the food sector is facing huge challenges and opportunities related to developing a more sustainable food system to nutritiously feed 8 billion people by 2030. This coincides with the digital revolution and the skills required to harness the power of innovation technologies to generate positive change. We are calling young people to join the Global Youth Initiative and embrace this journey together with Nestlé. 

This is why we are boosting youth competitiveness and employability by providing training opportunities, and developing skills for them across our operations. Since the Youth Employability Initiative was launched in Europe in 2014, Nestlé has transferred its experience with the on-thejob and Swiss dual education system to 16 countries and offered 20,517 job opportunities and 12,385 traineeships or apprenticeships. From 2015 to 2016, we provided 16,185 jobs and 7,601 traineeship and apprenticeship opportunities in the Americas. Similar schemes are now available in the rest of the world to facilitate the development of professional competencies matching company needs whilst reducing school dropouts, reducing the risk of social marginalisation and furthering non-academic education. Our activities in the upstream supply chain are empowering young people and women to become agripreneurs and leaders in the sector. We assist younger farmers and farm workers to improve the economic returns from their crops and to help their communities become more resilient and successful thereby addressing the pressures on the supply of high-quality raw materials amidst arable land limitations, climate change, and rural-urban migration. In the downstream supply chain, we support entrepreneurs with basic business skills and training on cooking, nutrition, and food safety so they can start and expand their businesses, increase their income and help us reach more consumers.

The future is bright. We are thrilled to continue to help youth contribute to the resilience and dynamism of their communities. In the last ten years, we have prepared hundreds of thousands of youth for work; trained and supported 4 million farmers; empowered 2 million women with business skills and alternative livelihoods; promoted innovation through our internal and external platforms and our Creating Shared Value prize; and devised reverse mentorship programmes to close the generational digital divide in our workforce. We look forward to working with others and youth itself to offer those under 30 the skills they need to thrive in a world they are increasingly shaping.