Around 200 companies have joined forces under Nestlé’s Alliance for Youth to tackle the youth unemployment crisis in Europe, pledging to create more than 100,000 opportunities for young people in the coming years.

This was announced by Nestlé Europe CEO Laurent Freixe executive board member José Lopez during a live webcast debate which saw 20 young people discussing their future with business leaders and politicians.

Freixe said: “With more than 200 companies from all over Europe, the Alliance for Youth is the first pan-European business-driven movement helping young people be better prepared to enter the professional world and improve their chances in a challenging job market.”

According to a survey done for the Alliance initiative and carried out by Nielsen, 23 per cent of young people in Europe see unemployment as the biggest problem faced by society over the next five to 10 years. Some 55 per cent of those questioned, who were unemployed, said governments were mostly to blame for not resolving the lack of opportunities for young people.

Around 2,000 young people across the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain aged between 18 and 29 took part in the survey. The results also revealed that 40 per cent of those within the 21 to 24 age group feared negative job prospects in their country over the next 12 months.

The Alliance for Youth companies have promised to develop a number of joint and individual initiatives to give young people meaningful work experience and internships, generating more than 100,000 jobs and training opportunities. Nestlé has created close to 8,000 opportunities in the last eight months.

The companies will also mobilise their employees to go out into the community and help young people get ready for work by offering practical advice, CV clinics and interview preparation.

Alliance for Youth partners will be active members of the European Commission’s European Alliance for Apprenticeships, promoting apprenticeships and training as active ambassadors of vocational training across Europe.

Last June, together with 14 European business partners and 13 Portuguese partners, Nestlé launched Alliance for Youth in Lisbon.

Alliance for Youth is the fourth pillar of Nestlé’s European youth employment initiative, Nestlé Needs Youth, launched in Athens in November 2013.

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