Leading businesses welcome 42 students in day-long job-shadowing exercise

26 businesses participate in third edition of Leaders for a Day

Junior Achievement Young Enterprise (JAYE), in collaboration with the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry and CORE Malta, has held the third edition of ‘Leaders For A Day’ (L4D), an initiative designed to expose young people to first-hand experience of a typical day’s work in Malta’s top-most levels of the private sector. A total of 26 companies joined the initiative, covering myriad industrial and economic sectors.

Addressing the participating students, Malta Chamber Deputy President David Xuereb said that many successful business people today will recall how their JAYE days were perhaps the catalyst that ignited their interest in business.

Mr Xuereb encouraged the participating students to strive for excellence and always take the ethical path towards their goal. He remarked that, in an age of economic prosperity, a healthy and sound practice is what remains of an entrepreneur’s entire endeavours.

“We believe this shadowing experience will leave a lasting impression on our budding entrepreneurs, who we are eager to welcome to the Chamber as members in the near future”, he said.

“L4D has become – and will remain – another staple feature of our calendar of events for the Company Programme and I would welcome even more business leaders next year to join this initiative”, said Julian Azzopardi, JAYE Malta CEO.

Speaking on behalf of the participating students, Rachael Bartolo from De La Salle College said: “It was a motivating experience that has helped convince me to start my own company, once I complete my studies, which I will definitely open up to students like myself today. I thank all the leaders who have provided us with this unique opportunity.”

Michael Warrington, CEO of AX Group, responded positively to the call. “This is the first year we have participated in L4D and I have been impressed by the level of entrepreneurial spirit presented by these young 16-year-olds.” This sentiment was reiterated by Dan Robinson, Head of RBWM at HSBC Malta, while thanking all the leaders who had contributed to the initiative. “We need to give more support to the active learning process of our youth to help generate a better and more participative workforce in Malta.”