
Musgrave Group has helped to tackle youth unemployment by running career development sessions for young jobseekers across Ireland as part of Feeding Ireland’s Future ‘Skills for Work Week’, a joint initiative between Government and industry.
Running from 29th February to 4th March, the initiative saw suppliers and service providers to the Irish food and grocery sector give free pre-employment skills advice to over 1,000 young unemployed people, with 28% of participants attending a Musgrave workshop at 12 Musgrave sites nationwide.
Over the course of the week, Musgrave’s HR team delivered workshops on a range of topics including how to manage social media reputation, CV preparation, drafting cover letters and applications, and interview role plays. Participants were also taken on site tours to give them an overview of what a career in the food and grocery industry entails. New to the Skills for Work Week 2016 programme is a partnership with Youthreach, a Department of Education and Skills official education, training and work experience programme for early school leavers aged between 15 and 20 years old. 19 Youthreach centres across Ireland took part in Skills for Work Week 2016, with Musgrave facilitating 21% of these across Cork, Waterford, Dublin and Killarney.
Commenting, Adrian Grey, Musgrave Group HR Director, said: “As the largest private sector employer in Ireland, we are delighted to be participating in this initiative and helping young people gain an understanding of the range of career opportunities available in the Irish food industry. Our workshops are designed to support young unemployed people in developing the skills needed to secure a job through hands-on experience which demonstrates what a day in the food industry is like. We hope to inspire young people to pursue a career in food and in doing so, help to boost one of the most important industries for the Irish economy.”
Feeding Ireland’s Future is promoted by ECR Ireland and conducted in association with the Department of Social Protection and its Intreo service and the Department of Education and Skills and its Youthreach service. More information is available at: www.ecrireland.ie/people