Modernize Internships and Startup Incubators, ManpowerGroup Advocates, as World Marks International Youth Day

Tomorrow's Business Leaders Require Skills That Will Sustain Companies

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Aug 12, 2012, 08:00 ET

MILWAUKEE, Aug. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN), the world leader in innovative workforce solutions, recommends increased collaboration between governments, educators and businesses to improve the employability skills of youth, ahead of the United Nations' International Youth Day on Sunday — a day which draws attention to hardships facing young people across the globe.

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The number of underemployed and unemployed youth is rising in nearly all countries and regions. According to the International Labor Organization's Global Employment Trends for Youth, 2011 Update, the global youth unemployment rate rose from 11.8% to 12.7% between 2008 and 2009, the largest one-year increase on record. The 2012 UN World Youth Report estimates that 75.1 million young people were unemployed by the end of 2010.

"This disturbing trend is exacerbated by the fact that young people do not possess the skills and qualifications for available jobs," said Jeffrey A. Joerres, ManpowerGroup Chairman and CEO. "Also, there are simply fewer jobs to accommodate rising youth populations. Private-public sector platforms are essential for building up the entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs needed to spawn more companies. This same type of collaboration is also required to advance skilled trades training and transform vocational schools into an attractive career launching pad."

At the World Economic Forum on Latin America in April, ManpowerGroup released the insight paper, "Wanted: Energized, Career-Driven Youth," addressing the paradox of low labor market participation of young people against a backdrop of acute talent shortages — one in three employers worldwide is having difficulty finding qualified candidates, according to ManpowerGroup's 2012 Talent Shortage Survey.

In January, at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, ManpowerGroup called for more collaborative public-private initiatives to launch productive careers for youth worldwide. At Davos, Joerres participated in a session titled "Averting a Lost Generation," exploring solutions to the problem. In February, David Arkless, ManpowerGroup President of Corporate and Government Affairs, moderated a United Nations Economic and Social Council (UNECOSOC) panel, titled "Building New Ground: Partnerships for More and Better Jobs for Young People." Jonas Prising, ManpowerGroup President of the Americas, is chairman of Junior Achievement USA, an organization that empowers people to drive economic success via programs focusing on work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy.

"The rationale for employer initiatives to promote youth employability is simple: businesses that can strategically source, manage, and create needed talent for the long-term will be able to seize emerging economic opportunities, while those that fail to address this challenge will be outperformed by their competitors," said Arkless. "Individuals who are given access to learning opportunities and who can cultivate the right skills will thrive in the labor market and contribute to employers."

"Wanted: Energized, Career-Driven Youth," suggests business driven solutions to the youth employment challenge, including greater employer participation in career guidance programs for students; promoting more positive images for vocational education; creating and engaging with programs that build young people's work experience; and making investments that address a shortage of career-oriented, entry-level jobs. The full paper can be downloaded here: http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/MAN/1966779581x0x559735/49b8cab1-acbd-44f2-81c7-af017eb9052d/CareerDrivenYouthPaper_lores.pdf

About ManpowerGroup

ManpowerGroup™ (NYSE: MAN), the world leader in innovative workforce solutions, creates and delivers high-impact solutions that enable our clients to achieve their business goals and enhance their competitiveness. With over 60 years of experience, our $22 billion company creates unique time to value through a comprehensive suite of innovative solutions that help clients win in the Human Age. These solutions cover an entire range of talent-driven needs from recruitment and assessment, training and development, and career management, to outsourcing and workforce consulting. ManpowerGroup maintains the world's largest and industry-leading network of nearly 3,800 offices in over 80 countries and territories, generating a dynamic mix of an unmatched global footprint with valuable insight and local expertise to meet the needs of its 400,000 clients per year, across all industry sectors, small and medium-sized enterprises, local, multinational and global companies. By connecting our deep understanding of human potential to the ambitions of clients, ManpowerGroup helps the organizations and individuals we serve achieve more than they imagined – because their success leads to our success. And by creating these powerful connections, we create power that drives organizations forward, accelerates personal success and builds more sustainable communities. We help power the world of work. The ManpowerGroup suite of solutions is offered through ManpowerGroup™ Solutions, Manpower®, Experis™ and Right Management®. Learn more about how ManpowerGroup can help you win in the Human Age at www.manpowergroup.com.

ManpowerGroup is the most trusted brand in the industry, and was once again the only company in our industry to be named to the Ethisphere Institute's 2012 World's Most Ethical Companies list for our proven commitment to ethical business practices, including an outstanding commitment to ethical leadership, compliance practices and corporate social responsibility.

In January 2011, at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, ManpowerGroup announced the world has entered the Human Age, where talent has replaced capital as the key competitive differentiator. This concept of talentism as the new capitalism continues to resonate and was echoed as a core theme of the 2012 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Learn more about this new age at www.manpowergroup.com/humanage

Gain access to ManpowerGroup's extensive thought leadership papers, annual Talent Shortage surveys and the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, one of the most trusted indices of employment activity in the world, via the ManpowerGroup World of Work Insight iPad application. This thought leadership app explores the challenges faced by employers navigating the changing world of work and provides in-depth commentary, analysis, insight and advice on strategies for success.

Follow ManpowerGroup Chairman and CEO Jeff Joerres on Twitter: twitter.com/manpowergroupjj. Joerres is one of only six Fortune 500 CEOs who leverages a Twitter account to get his message out.

SOURCE ManpowerGroup