Hiring fair helps open doors for vulnerable youth

Hundreds of vulnerable youth are getting a new shot at entering the workforce after a hiring fair was held at Calgary City Hall on Friday.

Opportunity for All Youth, a coalition of companies operating in Canada that include Starbucks, Walmart, HMSHost, the Source and Telus, partnered with the City of Calgary to help more than 350 youth.

“The youth that we work with, we call them NEET youth and that stands for No Education, Experience or Training,” said Jennifer MacSween, spokeswoman for the city’s youth employment centre.

“For this particular youth ... we really work to help provide them that wraparound service at the youth employment centre.

Things like helping to develop a targeted resume, helping them with their online application and putting them through a mock interview, to really help increase their chances when they meet with an employer.”

Calgary youth have long struggled with unemployment rates hovering around 15 per cent for those aged 15 to 24 years old in a city that already is facing the second-highest unemployment rate in the nation.

“Right now, in the Calgary market, there’s only 10.5 per cent of youth between the ages 15 to 24 represented in the workforce, so that’s a fairly low percentage rate,” said MacSween.

“When we are talking to employers, we are really finding out they have that need, they want skilled young people.”

The Friday fair was the first of its kind in Calgary.

Richard Derham, lead executive with Opportunity for All Youth, said their group launched in May and has already been helping many employers and youths.

“It’s a fairly new initiative ... but it’s a national initiative working with employers — big employers who are either national or smaller employers who just have operations in one city,” said Derham.

“For them, they are really focusing on this NEET youth demographic because they do view it as a missed opportunity to not be reaching out and recruiting a very talented, motivated demographic.”

Mayor Naheed Nenshi praised the initiative.

“This is an excellent program to increase youth employment and help us to build a better economy where all Calgarians benefit,” he said.

“Together, we are creating great opportunities for our young citizens so they can have valuable experiences that will help them in their future careers.”