In Sydney, Australia, Talent has announced a brand-new internal initiative aimed at helping youth employment. The 1 in 10 pledge states that for every 10 Talent employees, there will be 1 Talent team member globally that is RISE related (RISE team and RISE young people placed in Talent). The business is currently at 1 in 19 and aims to achieve 1 in 10 by 2026.
Talent’s vision is to ‘empower people to build a better world of work for all’. This initiative serves as an example of the business leading the way in the recruitment industry when it comes to helping young people in need find meaningful employment.
On top of this, the business has also announced the 2023 ‘Step Up Challenge’ which sees Talent employees walking 20KM to raise much needed funds to help young people.
The initiative aimed at helping young people with challenges to finding employment enters its second year running and is embedded into the Talent values. Last year, the $100,000 raised helped over 1,000 young people with coaching, mentoring, training and secured meaningful employment for 75 young people.
In 2023, all funds raised will go towards three life-changing initiatives for young people. These are:
- Tech Academy:The Tech Academy will fund a group of young people through work placements and training to acquire invaluable skills and experience, providing them with a clear pathway into tech roles – a pathway they never thought possible.
- Paid Internship Scheme: Paid internships can be life-changing but are often impossible to secure for the young people we work with. This scheme will fund internships which provide critical experience to help young people gain confidence and secure employment.
- Equal Access Program: This program will support young people from refugee, asylum seeker, or Indigenous backgrounds by covering the cost of training (alongside RISE work readiness support) to provide a platform for future security.
Mark Nielsen, Talent’s Global CEO, is proud that Talent is leading the way when it comes to DE&I and ESG initiatives: “Inclusive hiring practices don’t just end with gender, ethnicity, and sexuality – they go beyond that. Many organisations exclusively hire graduates from just one elite university. How can businesses hire someone outside of their usual hiring channels? Are entry-level roles really entry-level? Are businesses giving young people a chance? These are questions that we must pose to really help shape DE&I strategies from the top down. Talent RISE is an important component of what we do at Talent in building a better world of work.”
Over the years, the Talent and Talent RISE global team has volunteered over 50,000 hours to giving back to charities and community projects. Talent RISE will be expanding into Perth & Adelaide in 2023
