Marriott International’s commitment to changing young people’s lives has resulted in more than 4,000 youth employed into the company’s European operations since 2015. A further 8,000 training opportunities in the form of work experience placements and apprenticeships have been created since 2015, giving young people an invaluable step into employment.
Marriott’s commitment to tackling youth unemployment has shaped a promise to create 20,000 training opportunities for young people by 2020 and Marriott can today reveal that it has reached 40% of its target in just 12 months. This result has inspired the company to go one step further and uncap its target, meaning that it will continue its efforts in creating career opportunities for young people at the same pace towards 2020 and beyond.
The goal sits at the heart of Marriott’s World of Opportunity programme, an ambitious scheme to find and nurture the wealth of talent that currently lies untapped in 15-24 year olds throughout Europe. Working in partnership with The Prince’s Trust in the UK and SOS Children’s Villages in the rest of Europe, Marriott’s World of Opportunity training courses develop not only employment skills, but “life skills” that will help young adults take their first step into work.
“The results from our World of Opportunity programme to date have been fantastic and I am thrilled that we are exceeding the target we set a year ago,” said Reiner Sachau, Chief Operations Officer for Marriott International in Europe. “Hospitality presents so many opportunities for young people and World of Opportunity is an open door for them to gain top-quality training, confidence and invaluable life skills in a supportive and dynamic environment. That is why I am so pleased to be able to strengthen our commitment to youth employment today by extending training opportunities to even more young adults in Europe.”
Marriott’s World of Opportunity programme benefits all young people looking to get into employment regardless of background or experience. Of the 8,000 training opportunities already created, 36% of these were taken by young people who had been unemployed for some time and were not in education or training. 61% of these were taken by people who were looking for their first job, and in both cases the training was tailored to get people ready for work with core job and life skills. The remaining 3% were taken by graduates of Marriott’s Voyage programme: people who had graduated from further education and were pursuing a career in hospitality.
Marriott’s aim is not just to employ talent within Europe but to help equip young people with the skills and confidence to make the move into work, whatever that might be. In the last year alone, it has provided young people with 336,880 hours of work experience in nearly 200 hotels across Europe.
Since 2012 Marriott has helped 400 young adults enrol and successfully complete a range of courses in collaboration with The Prince’s Trust, equipping them with life-long skills in hospitality as well as more general communication and business skills. One of these is the four-week Get into Hospitality course which gives participants insight into a range of departments and job roles.
In Eastern Europe, in partnership with the Youth Career Initiative and SOS Children’s Villages, Marriott offers a six month course designed to get young people into the hospitality industry. In December 2015, six students completed the course in Hungary with three of the participants going on to secure full-time employment with the Budapest Marriott and Courtyard Hotels afterwards.
Marriott’s commitment to youth employment extends to supporting charitable partners with cash and in-kind donations to support a variety of programmes and initiatives. Since its World of Opportunity programme launched in 2012, more than €1.2 million cash and €640,000 in-kind has been donated to its charitable partners along with 40,000 volunteer hours.
A major initiative that contributes to Marriott’s fundraising efforts is its You Eat, We Give campaign that promises £1 or €1 (or local equivalent) for every champion dish purchased at participating properties throughout May, June and July. Since You Eat, We Give launched in 2012, it has raised more than €650,000 and is a major contributor to Marriott Europe’s goal to reach €2 million in donations to support its charitable partners by 2017.
For more information on the World of Opportunity programme please visithttp://planetmarriotteurope.tumblr.com
