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Global leader CapGemini leads sector Big Conversation and pledges 500 placements
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On April 28th 2010, Christine Hodgson, Member of the Capgemini Group Executive Committee, and Business in the Community's Chairman, Sir Stuart Rose will convene students, practitioners, teachers and professional services' leaders to collaborate on an important shared agenda of work experience. They will take part in the Big Conversation, one-to-one conversations between business leaders and young people – enquiring about what students want from work experience and advising on paths they can take to access careers in consulting, technology, outsourcing and local professional services.
Professional services businesses of all sizes across the UK are being encouraged to commit to reviewing and improving the work experience they offer to their young people every year. The Work Inspiration campaign (www.workinspiration.com), from Business in the Community (BITC), was launched at an event on 15th September 2009. Capgemini was one of 100 businesses from all sectors to attend the first Big Conversation, which marked the start of a business-led movement of employers across the UK. Today is the first sector specific Big Conversation event.
"I'm very pleased to be leading this Big Conversation for the professional services sector – the first such sector-specific event," said Capgemini's Christine Hodgson. "Typically our organisations have not offered very inspiring work experience, but this is something we intend to change. Today we are pledging our commitment to creating 500 work placements in the next 12 months giving young people the chance to work on real client challenges. Our aim is to work with our peers to make similar commitments."
The Work Inspiration campaign is on track to meeting its aspirational target of 100,000 work placements across the UK by September 2010. Currently there are over 400 organisations engaged and supporting the campaign, some of these include Allen & Overy, Ernst & Young, PWC, Shoosmiths, Eversheds and WSP. To date, combined organisations have influenced over 30,000 placements through working with partners, champions and by undertaking events across the country.
Positive experiences of work can demonstrate to young people that there are many paths to success, enhancing their life and career aspirations. Businesses also benefit from an increase in future recruits with greater business awareness, and, at the same time, develop the leadership and management skills of their staff.
The campaign is spearheaded by BITC in partnership with the independent education foundation Edge and the Talent and Enterprise Taskforce. Corporate supporters are: BT, Capgemini, Chime Communications, Marks & Spencer, McDonald’s, National Grid, Royal Mail and Serco.
It has been developed, supported and endorsed by a range of partners. These include: Arrival Education, British Council, Career Academies UK, Council for Social Action, City and Guilds, Department for Children, Schools and Families, Enterprise Insight, Harris Federation, Institute for Education Business Excellence, Merlin, Mosaic, National Council for Work Experience, National Education & Employer Partnership Taskforce, NESTA, Talent & Enterprise Taskforce, The Prince’s Trust, Teach First; Trident from Edexcel, UK Commission for Employment & Skills, WorldSkills 2011, and Young Enterprise.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
For more information please contact: Linda Considine on 07502372774 or linda.considine@yahoo.co.uk
Background to the Work Inspiration campaign
Business in the Community has spent 18 months researching senior business leaders’ ideas on how to tackle the skills and talent deficit in the UK. One of the key issues identified through Business in the Community’s Talent Debates, attended by 2,000 business leaders in 2008-2009, was the gap between young people’s expectations of the world of work and what business expected from those new recruits.
There is also a knowledge gap between the world of work and young people: young people are leaving education with little understanding of how to progress with a career; the range of jobs and opportunities available for them; and how to make their first steps in the world of work.
This gap poses a critical issue to business: if young people don’t know what jobs are out there and how to get into them, this could lead to a serious lack of applicant and/or appropriately skilled applicants in future. By raising awareness among the corporate sector, we will use businesses as a catalyst for positive change to the way work experience is provided for young people.
The gap also highlights a critical social need to better equip young people with a more transparent and inspirational picture of the world of work, so that they are better able to make decisions about their future career paths on leaving school or university.
About Capgemini
Capgemini, one of the world’s foremost providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services, enables its clients to transform and perform through technologies. Capgemini provides its clients with insights and capabilities that boost their freedom to achieve superior results through a unique way of working, the Collaborative Business Experience™. The Group relies on its global delivery model called Rightshore®, which aims to get the right balance of the best talent from multiple locations, working as one team to create and deliver the optimum solution for clients. Present in more than 30 countries, Capgemini reported 2009 global revenues of EUR 8.4 billion and employs 90,000 people worldwide. ??More information is available at www.capgemini.com.
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