The competence center for charitable foundations Helping young people learn through Future Skills.
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The Future Skills program gives young people the opportunity to fulfill their potential later on in adult life. By enabling them to access training and acquire new skills, the success of these young people is not determined by their socioeconomic status.
Developing future skills
Given the pace at which technologies and globalization are advancing, we are convinced that the skills which will be in demand in the future may change over time – and even during the course of a person's professional career.
That's why the focus of our program is on giving young people the skills that will unlock a lifetime of learning and enable them to take responsibility for their lives.
Helping young people acquire skills
Credit Suisse is committed to providing innovative programs to promote Future Skills and supports charitable organizations around the world that focus on promoting young people and providing them with the opportunity to maximize their potential later on in adult life. By supporting projects that give young people access to education and enable them to acquire future skills, we want to help ensure that a young person's success is not determined by their socioeconomic status.
Around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to significant shifts in the labor market. "Our partners help on the front line by improving the employability of young people through education and enabling them to acquire skills that meet the requirements of employers and sought-after professions," says Laura Hemrika, Global Head of Corporate Citizenship & Foundations. These collective efforts also highlight Credit Suisse’s concern for the future of talent and our commitment to developing a robust and diverse workforce.
Fostering well-informed (professional) decisions in Switzerland
Ten years ago, we launched the Youth Unemployment Initiative in Switzerland with the aim of enabling as many young people as possible to access vocational training and integrate them into the labor market. In April 2015, the independent national umbrella association "Check Your Chance" was established as part of a successful initiative in collaboration with the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and selected non-profit organizations. Since the launch of our initiative, Check Your Chance and its members have helped over 25,000 young people make a successful transition to professional life; indeed we continue to support the umbrella association in its work.
The Credit Suisse Foundation works with regional organizations such as Association LIFT, AVANTI, and Foundation FAJI, which offer tailor-made programs to help young people acquire the skills they need and enable them to make well-informed decisions about their professional future. Job application coaching has also been a fixed component of our social engagement for many years now. Together with our partner Pro Juventute, the largest child and youth organization in Switzerland, we offer students the opportunity to attend a practice interview prior to embarking on an apprenticeship.
The aim is to provide young people with individual coaching for their apprenticeship application; however, the transition from studying to working life is equally important. With the mentoring program run by the University of St. Gallen, our employees have the opportunity to volunteer in a project that gives students an insight into the requirements of their future work environment at an early stage and support them in their personal development.