In 2018, Generation and Google.org embarked upon an ambitious partnership to connect young people in three countries (Spain, Italy, & France) with thriving careers in the technology sector. Together, we have transformed lives, pioneered new tech programs and products, and have been called to respond to the greatest crisis of our lifetime, the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kick-starting Generation’s growth in Europe
At the inception of our partnership with Google.org, Generation had just over 1,000 graduates in Spain, fewer than 100 in Italy, and our operations in France were not live yet. Four years later, enabled by the generous $7.5M grant received from Google.org, which remains the largest economic opportunity grant provided by Google.org in EMEA, Generation has trained and found employment in the tech sector for more than 3,000 job seekers in France, Italy, and Spain. Graduates were placed into entry-level technology sector professions, including digital customer care, full stack and java development, digital marketing, and robotic process automation (RPA).
Opening up access to today’s digital economy
At both Generation and Google, we believe that everyone should have the opportunity to participate in today’s increasingly digital economy, and so, our programs seek to open access to education for those who have faced systemic barriers to accessing employment. For example, 54% of our learners are female and most describe themselves as financially unstable before joining Generation, with 80% of learners unemployed. Even in the midst of a pandemic labor market our graduates have seen life-changing outcomes, 75% of them being placed in jobs within six months of program completion. A year later, the majority of them remained employed.
Promoting skills-based hiring
To make it easier for recruiters to find the talent they need from its pool of graduates, Generation has built a new Employer Portal, developed with support from a team of four Google.org Fellows who worked full-time, pro bono alongside Generation for six months. What differentiates the Portal from other job-matching platforms out there is that employers can search for talent based on the skill-set of the job seekers, which Generation helps validate beforehand. Focusing on the skills that candidates bring to the table, rather than their age, gender, or education, helps to minimize hiring biases and unlock new talent pools for employers.
Supporting midcareer job seekers
By 2050, more than 4 in 10 individuals in the world’s most advanced economies are likely to be older than 50, and so, early policy interventions supporting workers in their mid-careers are essential to retain their talents and to tackle the risks coming with demographic change. However, even though it is a growing problem, midcareer unemployment receives little attention. As a result, Generation has partnered with the OECD with Google’s support to conduct a multi-country survey aimed at generating evidence of the problem and identifying a suite of micro-interventions.