Citi Foundation Joins Hands with Kenan Foundation Asia & Ministry of Labour in Empowering Underprivileged Youth, Giving Digital-Skill Training Prior to Their Entry to Labor Market
Citi Foundation, Kenan Foundation Asia, and th%e Department of Skill Development (DSD) have conducted the Aspiring Hospitality Workers of Tomorrow Initiative to equip disadvantaged youth with digital skills in the hope of preparing them as skilled workers. In connection with the initiative, they organized the "Opportunities and Challenges of the Disadvantaged Youth in the Future of Works " seminar to explore solutions to the new generation's struggle for jobs and skills and officially launched Kenan Micro and SME Academy today.
The COVID-19 outbreak over the past two years has significantly impacted the next generation's job opportunities. According to a recent report by the National Economic and Social Development Council, Thailand's unemployment rate peaked in the third quarter of the fiscal year 2021. A total 870,000 people were left jobless , among them nearly 300,000 were fresh graduates. Prolonged unemployment will adversely affect their/their family's quality of life and their chance of entering the labor market. Recognizing the gravity of this problem, Citi Foundation and Kenan Foundation Asia implemented the Aspiring Hospitality Workers of Tomorrow Initiative.
Launched in 2020, this initiative aims to support and empower the new generation of youth who lack money or opportunities to access training or secure jobs in the hospitality industry, one of Thailand's key sectors. The initiative has been conducted through collaboration with the DSD, Labor Ministry, and leading hotels, including Conrad Hotel, Hilton Sukhumvit Hotel, and Novotel Bangkok Sukhumvit Hotel. The Kasem Bundit University's Faculty of Arts has also contributed to the initiative by developing proper training courses in response to entrepreneurs' needs.
In addition, this initiative has empowered the new generation with courses prepared by the Kenan Micro and SME Academy that have gathered and shared 21st Century skills for Thai entrepreneurs. Featuring essential knowledge and skills, digital-marketing skills, basic entrepreneurship concepts, and financial literacy, these courses are designed to equip trainees with employability, access to quality employment, and online business knowledge that promises to offer job opportunities not just during the ongoing COVID-19 situation but also in the future. To date, the Aspiring Hospitality Workers of Tomorrow Initiative has already conducted 32 hours of training and covered 340 trainees. 171 are entry-level hotel staff or laid-off hotel employees, while 169 others are vocational students in Bangkok and its adjacent provinces.
Citi Foundation and Kenan Foundation Asia organized the "Empowering Youth with Work Skills" seminar to mark the conclusion of this two-year initiative. Speakers at the event, all of whom were specialists from DSD, UNICEF, Thailand Professional Qualification Institute, LINE MAN Wongnai, and Krirk Institution, exchanged their viewpoints and discussed guidelines to boost the impoverished youth's access to appropriate work skills and quality employment. Held between 10 - 11 am, the seminar was also broadcast live via the Facebook pages of DSD and Kenan Foundation Asia.
As the representative of Citi Foundation, Ms. Wanvisa Komindr, senior executive vice president for corporate communication of Citibank Thailand, said, "the new generation is critical to national development as human resources that will drive the country's economy and innovations. Their importance will also grow over time. But during the past two years, the new generation's access to the labor market has been increasingly mired with problems in so many countries. Aware of these problems, Citi Foundation has joined forces with partners to empower youth in over 80 countries based on the Pathway to Progress concept. Our goals are to curb unemployment among the new generation, to enrich their work experience, to enhance their financial literacy, to foster their entrepreneurship, and to drive systematic and structural changes in the way that will help youth build the future they want for them and their family's benefits as well as play a role in their community development."
ML. Puntrik Smiti, Member of the Executive Committee, Kenan Foundation Asia, said, "Kenan Foundation Asia has been an active charitable organization in Thailand for 25 years already. We have partnered with government and private sectors, civil society, and communities for economic and social development during the period. These collaborations have created a better future for more than 3 million beneficiaries, namely micro-entrepreneurs, community members, state officials, educators, students, and underprivileged people. This year, we have turned a new page with the Kenan Micro and SME Academy launch, which gather all of 21st Century skills and knowledge. This Academy will be serve micro-entrepreneurs and interested people, regardless of gender and age. The 21st Century skills include digital-marketing skills, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy. All of them will provide foundation to advance future career and business."
Mr. Piyabutr Cholvijarn, President and Vice Chairman of Kenan Foundation Asia, said, "we would like to thank Citi Foundation and DSD and all relevant parties for constantly supporting our operations. We hope that together, all of us will continue to provide holistic solutions for a diverse yet equal society."
Mr. Chalearmpong Boonrod, Deputy Director-General of DSD, said, " Under Prime Minister and Defense Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, the government has focused on economic policies that not only drive Thailand towards security, prosperity and sustainability but also reduce gaps among people at all levels. The Labor Ministry, which is led by Labor Minister Mr. Suchart Chomklin, has thus assigned DSD to develop labor skills in the country and certify professional skills in collaboration with other government agencies and the private sector in line with national strategies, related master plans, national reform plans, and also the national economic and social development plan. Youth has always been a key target group of the Labor Ministry and DSD because we are well aware of challenges facing the new generation. Every year, about 150,000 children, upon completing mandatory education, have entered the labor market as 'unskilled workers' instead of furthering their studies. If holistic solutions are provided for them to pick up proper occupational skills that answer employers' needs or future career trends, they will become 'skilled workers' with better pay. Their and their family's quality of life will then improve".
"The Aspiring Hospitality Workers of Tomorrow Initiative sets a good example for projects that seek to empower disadvantqaged young people by equipping them with essential skills. We are immensely pleased to have seen the implementation of this initiative, which has been the fruit of collaboration between the government sector, the private sector, the academic sector, and civil society. Efforts to solve people's problems cannot rely just on the government. They require cooperation and support from all sectors to deliver the most efficient and effective output," Mr. Chalearmpong concluded.