According to the report Labour Outlook of Panama 2016, developed by the Labour Foundation of Panama, youth unemployment has grown to 15.8%. In order to contribute to Panamanian youth development, Nestlé has decided to develop the program Global Youth Initiative, which promotes youth employment.

The program includes four different work modules:

1. Empleate (employ yourself) – offers direct and indirect work opportunities to young people through Nestlé’s supply chain-,
2. Entrenate (train yourself) – provides professional practice and apprenticeship opportunities in different areas of the company-,
3. Orientate (guide yourself) – provides professional guidance in different fields to college students, vocational centres and high school graduates-,
4. Más oportunidades (more opportunities) – agreements and alliances with governmental and non-governmental entities to help youth and expand the impact of the program on society.

The program Works with suppliers, private companies and governmental entities, so they can join the program and expand their impact on society.

To broaden the impact of the program and take it outside college classrooms, Nestlé launched the website of Global Youth Initiative, a virtual platform where they can access to e-learning courses and receive information.

In Panama and the other countries of the region, the program’s goal is to enhance the professional career of over 20 thousand young Central Americans by 2020.

In 2016, the program achieved 677 regular and temporary contracts for people under 30 years old at Nestlé. In addition, 379 apprentices we hired. Also, 23 events “Ready for Work” were developed, which provided professional guidance to over 6,000 youngsters.

Another major achievement of the initiative was the collaboration convention signed with the Ministry of Work and Labour Development, which shall strengthen the programs this entity develops.

Furthermore, Nestlé has made the commitment of promoting employability and employment creation all over the world, hand in hand with those who are political responsible and the education sector.

The company has committed to create over 9,000 jobs and 6,600 apprenticeships and scholarships opportunities in Latin America by 2020. It will also implement programs for jobseekers, reaching over 560 thousand youth in the same period.

“Nestlé, through the Global Youth Initiative, offers tools for young people to successfully access a competitive, changing and diverse labor market, and, in that way, build a more promising future for new generations”, said Ana Elisa Castillo, Human Resources Director of Nestlé Central America.

These actions confirm the company’s commitment to support youth. In the beginning of this year, it signed its adherence to the Alliance for Youth Employability, which was developed together with the International Ibero-American Organization for Youth (OIJ).

This alliance focuses on five action areas: 1. Promoting dual education programs; 2. Promoting professional guidance programs; 3. Promoting the creation of apprenticeships; 4. Fostering entrepreneurship; and 5. Supporting the development of digital skills.