Large private companies are aware that promoting youth employment is a key factor to improving their future competitiveness. Based on this premise, the multinational Nestlé has launched the Nestlé needs YOUth project, an ambitious programme in Europe aimed at recruiting new talent while contributing to their training and providing them with experience.

More specifically, a total of 10,000 employment opportunities and 10,000 internships will be made available to young Europeans under 30. The initiative will run until 2016. In Spain, 1,250 young people will benefit from this initiative during this period. Of these, about 750 will eventually join the company to meet new job requirements in the export department as part of the generational change due to retirements or to cover positions in other group companies.

The executive vice president and director of the European section of the multinational, Laurent Freixe, indicated that one in four young people are unemployed in Europe. “We must consider the effects of having no income, no future and no hope. Ultimately, they are marginalized”, said the head of Nestlé in Europe. Therefore, the firm has launched this great project with a view to reinvesting part of its growth “to enhance their employability, regardless of their level of education,” says Freixe.

Working in Northern Europe

In fact, there is a wide range of opportunities in different fields: production, administration, sales and marketing, in the finance department, human resources and engineering at Nestlé’s various facilities. “We have designed specific functions to provide young people in countries like Greece, Italy, Spain or Portugal with invaluable experience by working for our firm in Switzerland, France, Germany, Austria, the Nordic countries and the UK, countries with low unemployment levels”, say the promoters of this programme.

To facilitate the transition from academic institutions to the workplace, the Readiness for Work programme has been launched. This includes career counselling, CV drafting workshops and training for interviews that will take place in schools, universities and Nestlé work centres. In addition, the multinational shall encourage its more than 63,000 European suppliers to participate in the initiative by offering jobs or training for young people under the Alliance for Youth project.

Nestlé operates 12 production centres in Spain in seven autonomous regions, employing approximately 6,000 people. 93% of Nestlé’s workforce in Spain consists of permanent staff.