JA-YE Students Acquire
New Skills for New Jobs
The global economy is evolving and reshaping the job market. To assist the next generation in navigating the new employment terrain, JA-YE Europe hosted a two-day Skills for the Future Summit in Brussels, Belgium.
The Summit was hosted to share and discuss the latest findings about economic education, financial literacy, business skills and employment trends, as well as to provide firsthand experience of Junior Achievement programs and engage stakeholders in JA activities.
With students, educators, business professionals, and JA-YE board members from 16 European countries in attendance, the summit focused on the identification and acquisition of relevant skills. European Commission research indicates that an estimated 20 million new jobs will be created in the European Union by 2020, and almost 75 percent will be in the service sector. The number of occupations requiring a high level of education will rise from 25 to 31 percent, and life skills (such as problem-solving, teamwork, technological expertise, and communication) will become even more important. The European Commission invited JA-YE Europe to join its Expert Group, which will write a report responding to policy directives for “New Skills for New Jobs.”
Summit events, including the Skills for an Enterprising Europe Panel and the European debut of the JA Success Skills program, demonstrated the importance of identifying and preparing to meet new global work-readiness and entrepreneurship requirements. JA students’ acquisition of relevant skills was evident in the final rounds of the 2009 JA-YE Europe JA Banks in Action Challenge and the 2009 JA-YE Europe Virtual Business Challenge (JA Titan), and the friendly competition of the students-versus-adults JA Banks in Action/JA Titan double-header. Manpower, Citi and Oracle were signature partners for the summit and provided volunteers for the sessions.
Throughout the Skills for the Future Summit, students displayed essential skills for employability, such as successful financial strategy, critical thinking, decision-making, and resource management and negotiation tactics learned through participation in JA programs. Their enthusiasm and expertise echoed the findings of two key JA-YE Europe student surveys, which were announced at the event and provided insight into JA’s positive impact. Young people who participated in the surveys reported that learning business skills made them better equipped for the future and that JA-YE programs made school much more interesting.
By understanding how Junior Achievement fulfills students’ needs, JA-YE and its stakeholders continue to create effective strategies to help young people find success in the global marketplace.
European Student Surveys Show JA’s Impact
The Financial Literacy Survey, reaching 2,943 European students, indicated that programs like JA Banks in Action helped students understand the influence education and skills can have on their future income, and the importance of responsible money management. The Business Skills Survey, reaching 2,335 European students, indicated JA programs, especially JA Titan, contribute considerably to developing key business skills and that participation in more than one JA program improves students’ overall academic performance.
Access the surveys at www.ja-ye.org by clicking on the Projects & Tools tab, and view the JA-YE Europe JA Success Skills video.
