Starbucks (Seattle) and 16 other companies are partnering to launch a new hiring program called Opportunities Initiative. The agenda spearheaded by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz intends to place roughly 100,000 unemployed young people with jobs over the next three years, The New York Times reports.
The Opportunities Initiative targets the estimated 5.6 million Americans between the ages of 16 and 24 who are not currently in school or working. The program will offer full-time positions, as well as apprenticeships and internships through the project’s various corporate partners, including Microsoft, Taco Bell, Target, Walmart, Hilton, CVS Health and many others.
The unemployment rate for Americans ages 16 to 19 is 18.1 percent – a 1-percent increase from February – and is attributed to fewer summer and in-school job opportunities, suggests Robert Lerman, a professor of economics at American University and an expert on youth unemployment.
Schultz’ own struggles inspired the concept behind the Opportunities Initiative. The now-chief executive grew up in public housing and was the first member of his family to attend college. “You have to start somewhere,” he said in an interview this past Sunday. “Our ultimate goal is to create the largest employer-led coalition creating pathways to good jobs for young people.”