McDonald's Pledges To Offer 43,000 Apprenticeships Across Europe

(RTTNews) - McDonald's Corp. (MCD) announced a new initiative called Youth Opportunity, with a global goal to reduce barriers to employment for two-million young people by 2025 through pre-employment job readiness training, employment opportunities and workplace development programs.

The company said it will distribute $1 million in grants to local community organizations in Chicago to deliver job readiness training for young people who have less access to opportunities. McDonald's will distribute a further $1 million in grant money to Skills for Chicagoland's Future to develop a new apprenticeship program with City Colleges of Chicago. In Europe, McDonald's, including participating franchisees, has also pledged to offer 43,000 apprenticeships by 2025 as one of the workplace development programs people can access.

In partnership with local community organizations and the International Youth Foundation or IYF, McDonald's will offer a new pre-employment work-readiness and soft skills training program, designed to help young people develop the competencies employers are looking for in entry-level employees.

McDonald's said it is piloting this initiative in Chicago, with the goal of reducing barriers to employment for 4,000 young people in the city, before rolling it out to select cities in the U.S. from 2019. In Latin America, Arcos Dorados - a McDonald's franchisee - aims to reach 180,000 young people through existing pre-employment training programs, while other participating global markets will roll out the initiative through locally-relevant programs and partners from 2019.

In Europe, McDonald's, including participating franchisees, has pledged to offer 43,000 apprenticeships by 2025 as one of the career development opportunities that young people can access. The apprenticeships combine workplace training and study, enabling people to gain practical work experience and new skills that will last a lifetime - all while earning money at the same time.

The company noted that the apprenticeships will be offered in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Switzerland, with the aim of expanding apprenticeships to other markets in the future. Through this pledge, McDonald's is also joining the European Alliance for Apprenticeships to help promote and improve access to vocational training for young people.