Unlocking the Promise of Youth – TWITTER CHAT

WHERE: Twitter, #GEFLive
WHEN: Wed, 2/22, 11 – noon EST

Tweet Me: I will join @PIMCOFoundation @SAP4Good @MakingCentsIntl & @MSUYEP 4 the #SkillsGap TWITTER CHAT 2/22 11, ET #GEFlive http://bit.ly/2lo1WFT 

WASHINGTON, D.C. February 9, 2017 /3BL Media/ -- Join SAP, Michigan State University, PIMCO Foundation, and Making Cents International for a Twitter Chat, Unlocking the Promise of Youth, on Wednesday, 2/22, 11 ET at #GEFlive.  

With nearly 75 million youth worldwide unemployed in 2013, young people aged 15–24 continue to be disproportionately affected by unemployment. Paradoxically, in spite of the swelling youth population ready to begin their careers, employers are having a difficult time filling open jobs. The Manpower Group’s worldwide “Talent Shortage Survey” for 2016 reports that 40% percent of 42,000 employers had difficulty filling jobs due to a lack of available talent—the highest global talent shortage since 2007.

Though complex, the skills gap is also an entirely solvable problem—one that becomes ever more urgent, as the world’s youth strive for a life of purpose, dignity, and economic stability. Moderated by @PYXERAGlobal, this #GEFlive chat will feature organizations from the private, public, and social sectors with expertise and a passion to close the skills gap:

• SAP: @SAP4Good
• PIMCO Foundation: @PIMCOFoundation
• Michigan State University: @MSUYEP
• Making Cents International: @MakingCentsIntl

Join these experts to learn real-world approaches to close the divide between youth who desire to enter the workforce and employers’ demands for an increasingly specialized and highly-skilled workforce. The chat is a featured event in the lead-up to the Global Engagement Forum, Live, taking place April 4 – 5, in Washington, DC.

“There is a great disconnect between labor supply and demand, and we’re not effectively preparing our young people to obtain gainful employment. Just think about the possibilities if we can get business leaders, educators, and policymakers to partner together and create innovative solutions to put people to work and halt the growing inequality.”  (Tweet Sarah)

Sarah Middleton, Senior Vice President, Global Corporate Citizenship, Executive Director, PIMCO Foundation

“We need to leverage our collective knowledge of what works to bridge the skills gap – taking a positive youth development approach; building “soft skills” for job readiness alongside “hard” technical skills; partnering with the private sector; and building scalable initiatives. At the same time, we must consider where the jobs will be in the future and what skills youth should possess to access them.” (Tweet Tim)

                        Tim Nourse, President, Making Cents International

The Global Engagement Forum, Live is an invite-only event convened by PYXERA Global focusing on specific solvable problems related to the skills gap, post-harvest loss, and non-communicable diseases. Join leaders from across sectors for two days of intensive collaboration to move the Global Goals from aspiration to achievement.
 

Resources to Learn More

• GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT FORUM LIVE: Why the skills gap?
• GRAPHICS: What are Essential Competencies on the Job? The Committee for Economic Development of The Conference Board
• VIDEO: IBM P-TECH graduate discusses how P-TECH taught him to “think with a purpose.”  
• ARTICLE: Preparing Youth for the Future of Work, by Tim Nourse, President, Making Cents International, Global Engagement Forum Online
• ARTICLE: Stop Waiting for Governments to Close the Skills Gap, Harvard Business Review
• ARTICLE: Doing Business in Africa: Where Strategy Meets Social Investment, by Alicia Lenze, & Brett Parker, SAP, Stanford Social Innovation Review

About Participating Organizations

PIMCO Foundation: PIMCO Foundation’s mission is to empower people globally to reach their full potential. PIMCO's commitments go beyond investment management. In addition to focusing on meeting responsibilities to the people and institutions who rely on PIMCO to manage their retirement and investment assets, PIMCO contributes to the communities where it works and lives by giving time and resources through The PIMCO Foundation.

SAP: As the market leader in enterprise application software, SAP is at the center of today’s business and technology revolution. SAP helps you streamline your processes, giving you the ability to use live data to predict customer trends – live and in the moment.

Making Cents International: Making Cents believes that people have tremendous potential and can achieve great things, given the opportunity. Opportunity springs from having mentors to help navigate difficult decisions, a safe place to save money, a network of like-minded entrepreneurs and civic leaders, and education that leads to a job. Since the organization’s founding in 1999, Making Cents International has been supporting people around the world to take advantage of these opportunities and advance their social and economic well-being. Making Cents works with partner organizations to build their capacity to support the people they serve—from the smallholder farmers who feed the planet to the young leaders and entrepreneurs who shape our communities.

Michigan State University: Michigan State University Spartans work every day to advance the common good in uncommon ways. Together, MSU tackles some of the world’s toughest problems to find solutions that make life better. The nation’s pioneer land-grant university, MSU is one of the top research universities in the world. Home to nationally ranked and recognized academic, residential college, and service-learning programs, MSU is a diverse community of dedicated students and scholars, athletes and artists, and scientists and leaders.
 

PYXERA Global: For more than 25 years, PYXERA Global has leveraged the unique strengths of corporations, governments, social sector organizations, educational institutions, and individuals to enhance the abilities of people and communities to solve complex problems and attain mutually beneficial goals.

Contact: Katie Levey
Director of Media Relations, PYXERA Global
klevey@pyxeraglobal.org
917.593.1989