The European Pact for Youth will present its results tomorrow, November 23rd, in Brussels, on the occasion of the second edition of the VET Week. In Europe there are 7 millions of NEET (Not engaged in Employment, Education and Training) plus 4 millions which leave school early. This is the very important reason why a lot of companies (Bridgestone Europe, Mc Cain Continental Europe, Nestlé, Microsoft International, Improve Digital, Randstad, Enel, etc.) and organizations (The Academy of Business in Society, Comité Européen de Coordination, DIGITALEUROPE, EUROCHAMBRES, etc.) have submitted the European Pact for Youth, a European initiative launched just two years ago by CSR EUROPE and by the commissioner of Employment and Social Affairs, Marianne Thyssen.
Their mission is to prepare and make young people aware on professional skills required by companies all over Europe, in order to be more competitive in the global market. The constant technology evolution, phenomena as “internet of things”, circular economy, are creating new and innovative job positions that people do not even know, leaving entrepreneurs and young students unprepared when it comes to face these new challenges. To make all this possible (step by step), supporters and initiators of the European Pact for Youth have created “a fair and equitable culture of partnership between business, education and youth in Europe, to prepare young people for quality jobs and responsible citizenship”. The aim is to anticipate the development of some important skills: from basic, job-specific, transversal and high-end skills – including digital and entrepreneurial competences – to green and soft skills.
A survey launched by CEDEFOP has showed that 60% of people who participated in Vocational Education and Training have already a long-term job near the end of their studies. The investigation was addressed to working, retired or unemployed people, asking them how long it took to get their first long – term job after their VET studies: most of the respondents with a secondary education completed, said that it took no more than one month; about 30 % said that they got a job before the end of their studies and another 30 % said that they got a job within one month after they have finished their studies. For those who has not completed a secondary education, the chance to find a job is quite the same of a VET student, but the rate of unemployment is much larger.