“People like to do something of value. Not only does entrepreneurship solve unemployment, it knits up the social fabric.”

 Everyone believes in the dynamism of the new economy and everyone loves startups. Now that we are faced with high unemployment rates in many countries, startups can be one of the solutions. Entrepreneurship has the ability to take unemployed people and turn them into productive workers, who in turn contribute to a prosperous and dynamic economy. 

Corporations want some of that magic and the Global Agenda Council on Fostering Entrepreneurship has a simple message for them: it’s easy. Work with entrepreneurs. We collaborate to advance successful entrepreneurship ecosystems that allow enterprises to scale. There’s an optimal company size in the middle of startups and large corporations, where the productivity of each individual is enhanced. The goal is to create more companies that are on this plateau.

One of the big problems facing startups is that they don’t know how big companies work. If they are going to grow, they need to learn that. We’re encouraging larger companies to share their resources, not as a charitable act, but as something that will help them. I’d say our major work is in encouraging corporates to look at these startups as potential suppliers.

“The consequences of youth unemployment are generational – and the costs are huge.” 

In 2010, almost 358 million young people were not in education, employment or training (NEET) and the number is rising. Young people who aren’t employed for a few years after entering the job market are
so scarred by the experience that they may never work. 

At the same time, emerging-market multinationals face challenges finding the right talent to support growth. We need to do something about this mismatch between demand for labour and the supply of young people desperately looking for employment. Enterprises can play a major role in engaging young talent, and we are exploring a framework that helps them to do so successfully and economically.

TEN Youth is a joint initiative between the Global Agenda Councils on Youth Unemployment and Emerging Multinationals. It has three components: a skills framework that identifies the behavioural skills important for a young person to develop, such as reliability, flexibility and problem-solving; an apprenticeship model that’s more intense and less costly than the traditional model; and a mentoring programme to support and further develop these skills on an ongoing basis. We are now building platforms and protocols so we can start a pilot.

“The demand for educated workers is greater in a world economy in which knowledge increasingly rules.” 

It is vital to improve education worldwide because, as we’ve seen, many students are either inadequately educated or possess skills that are not highly valued by the job market. Education encourages productivity, job creation, technological progress, and ultimately economic growth. It is a powerful promoter of innovation, and in a world economy in which knowledge increasingly rules, education responds to the demand for educated, skilled workers.

The central focus of the Global Agenda Council on Education and Skills is building human capital through formal and informal systems of education and training, and learning on the job. 

The Global Agenda Council on Education and Skills is preparing a book for publication, tentatively entitled ‘Education and Skills 2.0: New Targets and Innovative Approaches’. It looks at  the diverse challenges facing education and skill-building throughout the world and the most innovative, scalable and financially sound means for addressing them.

The policy environment is key: policies that support the accumulation of human capital and competitive rewards can provide strong support for economic growth.