Monday, July 13, 2015
JPMorgan Chase and Target Join Initiative to Create Job Opportunities for Young People
Failure to employ 16 to 24-year-olds has devastating implications. According to a recent report from Measure of America, a program sponsored by the nonprofit Social Science Research Council, the cost of youth disconnection — including health care, public assistance and incarceration — was $26.8 billion in 2013 alone. Quite literally, we can’t afford to do nothing.
Today, our The Schultz Family Foundation, which began in 1996, is committing $30 million to helping young people enter and advance in the work force. We will invest in programs that create clear paths to employment, including training in “hard” skills for fields like customer service, technology and retail, as well as “soft” skills like teamwork, problem solving and time management. We’ll also invest in mentorship programs and efforts to engage youth through public service.
Efforts like ours can’t succeed, however, unless companies are willing to hire these young people. That’s why we’re also announcing today the 100,000 Opportunities Initiative. With support from the Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions; foundations including MacArthur, Rockefeller, Joyce, JPMorgan Chase and W. K. Kellogg; local governments; and major companies — including Alaska Airlines, CVS Health, Hilton Worldwide, J.C. Penney, JPMorgan Chase, Lyft, Macy’s, Microsoft, Starbucks, Taco Bell, Target, Walgreens and Walmart — we will provide jobs, internships and apprenticeships to 100,000 young people over the next three years....