O2 and Bauer Media pledge £5m for GoThinkBig scheme

Bringing fresh-thinking

Ronan Dunne, chief executive officer (CEO) of O2 said, that while 25% of O2’s workforce is aged under 25, he recognised that young people today are facing some of the toughest employment challenges ever.

O2 and Bauer are asking employers to make their own work skills opportunities available through the GoThinkBig website.

“All businesses, big and small, have a role to play in helping support these young people on their journey to work and each of us can benefit by bringing fresh thinking into our organisations," he said. We aren’t just talking about the traditional two-week work experience slot but all those opportunities that can help young people gain work skills,” said Dunne.

GoThinkBig stresses that other opportunities can be made available, such as volunteering, work skills days and project funding.

Dunne said O2 wants to encourage young people to be confident in the value of their skills to prospective employers: “Businesses in turn need to recognise the value that young people can bring – they are the future fuel of the economy and form the generation that will help pull us out of recession. For GoThinkBig to realise its full potential, we need other businesses to join us on this journey.”

Paul Keenan, chief executive of Bauer Media said the company’s editors and programmers have seen a shift in what youth audiences are concerned about.

“They are now talking as obsessively about their careers – and about how to start them – as they are about their social lives and relationships. They’re anxious about the future, asking for help and looking for encouragement and inspiration,” he explained.

He added: “O2 and Bauer share a common belief that, rather than a ‘lost generation’, we need to inspire a ‘reboot generation’ – a generation that will dictate our future prosperity.”