World’s Largest Recruitment Company Rolls Up Its Sleeves to Work On Youth Unemployment
Auckland, April 30, 2013: With youth unemployment in New Zealand and around the world at record levels, Adecco is undertaking a large-scale
global program designed to get young people into work.
The GFC jump started unprecedented levels of youth unemployment in Europe. In Spain almost 60% of 15-24 year olds don’t
have a job, half of Greece’s youth are unemployed and one in three do not have a job in Italy. Portugal, Ireland,
Denmark, France, Belgium, Russia and the U.K. are also dealing with millions of young people without work and facing
bleak prospects, a situation so serious it’s now being called ‘The Lost Generation’.
“Unfortunately this new crisis is starting to spread around the world and we’re starting to see an increase in youth
unemployment here”, says Adecco New Zealand Managing Director, Mike Davies.
“The unemployment rate for 15-19 year olds in December quarter leapt to a record high of 30.9%.
That figure includes students in education but the 5% increase from September quarter was mainly due to an increase in
unemployment.”
“While unemployment is expected to increase this year our outlook isn’t nearly as bleak as Europe’s. Economic forecasts
suggest unemployment will begin falling from 2014 with job growth being led out of the Canterbury rebuild.”
“To address this issue long term, it’s vital that industry and education work closely together to reduce the skills
gap.”
“Every day at Adecco we work with employers wanting staff and people who are willing to work but there’s a mismatch in
the middle.”
“New Zealand’s labour market is constantly evolving, requiring education and training to be as dynamic so we provide
employers with those equipped with the skills they need to perform the roles we have.”
“Adecco is the largest recruitment and HR solutions company in the world and we have committed to a worldwide initiative
of providing resource and expertise to help with the increasingly serious issue of youth unemployment.”
New Zealand will be the first country in the world to launch a campaign and reach out to our youth and parents. On
Tuesday, Adecco will hit the streets offering free career advice and guidance to young people in addition to hosting a
range of online tools at www.adeccowaytowork.com.
The campaign is the brainchild of European based CEO of Adecco Group, Patrick de Maeseneire, “We believe the current
youth unemployment situation is economically and morally unacceptable. This job crisis is sweeping away the hopes and
dreams of a whole generation. Through the Adecco Way to Work programme we want to make our leading recruitment expertise
more accessible to young job seekers and provide real-life insights into the world of work and its requirements. It’s
our way of giving young people a helping hand. We must help unlock their potential and give them a perspective. We
cannot risk losing a whole generation.”
The Adecco Way to Work programme offers job searching tips through https://www.adeccowaytowork.com
The website is a resource for young job seekers including guidance on job applications, CV writing, preparing for
interviews and more.
You can follow the roll-out of the programme on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AdeccoWayToWork
Additional information is available on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AdeccoWaytoWork
About Adecco
The Adecco Group is based in Zurich and is a Fortune Global 500 company. Adecco S.A. is registered in Switzerland
(ISIN: CH0012138605) and listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ADEN).
It has 32,000 FTE employees and 5400 branches in over 60 countries & territories. Adecco Group offers a wide variety of services, connecting close to 700,000 associates with over 100,000
clients every day. The services offered fall into the broad categories of temporary staffing, permanent placement,
career transition and talent development, as well as outsourcing and consulting.
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