- Commitment is part of Youth Opportunity, a new global initiative from McDonald’s to reduce barriers to employment for two million young people by 2025
- Builds on a 12-year record of providing apprenticeships in the UK, including a Management Degree Apprenticeship with Manchester Metropolitan University
McDonald’s has pledged to provide 43,000 apprenticeships across Europe by 2025, as part of a global commitment to promote and improve vocational training for young people.
Statistics from the European Commission show that nearly 5.5 million of Europe’s young people are not in employment, education or training, which can have a dramatic impact on their skills development, earning capacity, long-term employability and wellbeing. As a major employer of young people, McDonald’s believes it has the potential and scale to help bridge the opportunity gap.
The apprenticeships announced today will provide a combination of workplace training and study, helping young people to gain practical experience, new skills and nationally recognised qualifications – all while earning. Together with its franchisees, McDonald’s will offer opportunities across the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Switzerland, with plans to expand to other markets in the future.
In the UK, McDonald’s has been providing apprenticeships to young people for over a decade and helped over 18,500 qualified apprentices to learn on the job. By the end of 2018, McDonald’s will have made 100 places available on the Management Degree Apprenticeship Programme, a bespoke 2-5-year apprenticeship (dependent on experience), developed in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University. The programme blends in-house leadership development training and workplace experience with the latest retail business theory, resulting in a BA (Hons) in Business Management Professional in Retail and a role as a McDonald’s Business Manager.
The commitment is part of Youth Opportunity, McDonald’s new global initiative to reduce barriers to employment for two million young people by 2025 through pre-employment job readiness training, employment opportunities and workplace development programmes. Through the initiative, McDonald’s is joining the European Alliance for Apprenticeships and the Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth, led by the International Labour Organization, to help accelerate global efforts to tackle youth unemployment.
In the US, McDonald’s has made a $2 million dollar commitment to provide apprenticeships alongside funding to local community training organisations in Chicago. The initiative, which will help 4,000 young people develop the competencies employers require, will be rolling out to other select cities in the U.S. from 2019 onwards.
Harriet Hounsell, Chief People Officer, McDonald’s UK & Ireland, commented:
“Across the UK, there are many young people struggling to gain the skills and experience they need to succeed in the workplace. By providing opportunities for young people to continue their education, develop their skills and gain qualifications while they earn, we want to help them take the next steps in their career. I’m proud of the progress we’ve made in the UK over the last decade and this new global commitment will help us to do even more in the future.”
Youth Opportunity is the fourth McDonald’s commitment dedicated to using the company’s Scale for Good.