Microsoft joins the 'big society'
Thursday, 23 September 2010 12:01 AM
By politics.co.uk staff
Microsoft is making its pitch to join David Cameron's 'big society' agenda with the announcement of a youth unemployment strategy.
The corporation has announced it is creating 150 new work experience placements later today, in a bid to give unemployed young people a head start.
"Work experience has a big impact on employability," Matt Lambert, Microsoft's director of corporate affairs, told politics.co.uk.
"The main problem you get is that they're not widely available. They're usually available to someone who knows someone - a parent works there or something. We want to address that."
Eighty-eight per cent of businesses do not have a formal work experience programme, recent surveys suggest. Microsoft is encouraging other businesses to follow its lead.
"The question is how you spread that programme," Mr Lambert continued.
"This 'One Week to Change a Lifetime' programme is us trying to give a lead. It's a great chance for business, at very little cost, to change the prospects for young people."
The programme is being supported by all three main political parties.
The company said it would work with partners such as LinkedIn and Remploy and UK businesses such as Sky to fulfil its ambition of "kick starting" the careers of 100,000 young people.
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