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Social Impact Report demonstrates impressive benefits of Nestlé Needs Youth initiative

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Students working at the office

Nestlé UK & Ireland’s Social Impact Report, launched today in partnership with MyKindaFuture, shows that the company’s Nestlé Needs Youth initiative not only helps young people gain invaluable work experience but also helps raise aspirations and build confidence for the future.

Nestlé partnered with MyKindaFuture in November 2013 as part of the Nestlé Needs Youth initiative. The aim was to provide employability training for young people and develop their understanding of opportunities in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) within the food and manufacturing industry.

Through the partnership, Nestlé has been able to support 4,557 students face to face via workshops, assessment days and work experience, surpassing the target of 4,000.

The Social Impact Report shows that this engagement resulted in 95% of participating students having a better understanding of the Nestlé Academy and the opportunities on offer.

In addition, with 110 Nestlé employees directly engaging with student participants over the three years, the programme was a learning opportunity for both employees and the students they supported.

The vast majority of students surveyed agreed that the Nestlé experience has helped develop their understanding of the opportunities available to them. It has also given them advice on how to pursue such opportunities, as well as providing them with key skills. This was demonstrated by the fact that, following their participation in the programme, 97% of students felt confident they would be able to build a career after leaving school/college.

The report proves that programmes like these are invaluable in helping young people make key decisions about their future careers, in encouraging them to explore what inspires them, and in making them aware of the breadth of opportunities available. This, in turn, tackles youth unemployment by creating a strong foundation for students once they leave school and enter the world of work.

Dame Fiona Kendrick, Chairman and CEO, Nestlé UK & Ireland, said:

“Attracting new talent and investing in future skills is key to the continued success of our business. We all need to play our part in creating opportunities for the next generation and helping young people from all backgrounds move from school to the world of work, which is why we are offering young people the chance to gain experience throughout our business.

It is critical that businesses take action to engage and attract young people into the sector and I am very pleased that the Nestlé Needs Youth initiative and our work experience programme really help raise aspirations and open doors to a new generation of talent.”

William Akerman, Founder and Managing Director, MyKindaFuture, said:

“I am thrilled with the impact the Nestlé Needs Youth initiative has made, the Social Impact Report should make everyone involved very proud. We surpassed the initial target of 1,900 employment opportunities, which is really encouraging.

Nestlé is setting a great example to other UK business on how they can improve their talent pipeline, and most importantly, how to empower and give opportunities to students across the UK.

We have had brilliant feedback from students and teachers on their experience at workshops, Nestlé insight days and assessment days, so I am very pleased and excited to see how they engage with and recruit future graduates and apprentices during 2017.”

As part of the Nestlé Needs Youth initiative, Nestlé has created more than 2,000 employment opportunities for young people since 2014, surpassing the initial target of 1,900. To support this pledge, Nestlé introduced new graduate and apprenticeship roles, as well as, transitioned to a strengths-based methodology across all of its programmes to enable candidates from all backgrounds to progress through the recruitment process.

Moving forward, Nestlé has announced that they will offer at least 3,000 new employment opportunities for young people in the UK and Ireland by 2020. This pledge is part of the wider Nestlé Needs YOUth pledge to offer 35,000 work opportunities for young people in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa by 2020.

ENDS

For further information please contact Nestlé UK Press Office on 020 8667 6005 or e-mail [email protected]

 

The Social Impact Report:
 

 

 

You can find the Social Impact Report including case studies and feedback from the young people participating in the Nestlé and MyKindaFuture programme here (pdf, 21Mb).

 

New legal mentoring scheme

Nestlé UK & Ireland’s Group Legal  have recently launched a new mentoring scheme with the School of Law at the University of Greenwich and White & Case LLP.
 
Third year students will be offered an insight into the types of career a law degree can provide and will be mentored by legal professionals at Nestlé UK and Ireland throughout the academic year.
 
The initiative forms part of the market's activities for the Alliance for YOUth scheme.

More details can be found here: http://www.nestle.co.uk/media/pressreleases/nestle-legal-mentoring