Two events aimed at helping young Jamaicans on their career paths are scheduled to be held this week by Nestlé Jamaica in continuation of its Nestlé Needs YOUth Initiative launched in May 2016.

The University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) Annual Career Fair, to be held on March 16, and the second Nestlé Needs Youth Career Fair set for March 17 at the UTech Auditorium are in keeping with Nestlé Jamaica’s commitment to — over the next three years — recruit at least 10 young people between the ages of 18 and 29, offer at least 50 internships, provide employability skills training to at least 1,500 young people, and forge partnerships with suppliers and other private sector companies through their ‘Alliance for Youth’ to create even more opportunities for recruitment, internships and training.

“These two interventions on March 16 and 17 are key as they will provide opportunities for employers to evaluate upcoming graduates and reduce the time it takes for the organisation to hire, as well as the length of time for the graduates to find a job,” a company news release quotes David Heath, human resource business partner.

The company said that since the launch of the Nestlé Needs Youth Initiative last May, close to 30 young people were hired between Nestlé Jamaica and its partners, 12 university students formed part of the 2016 summer programme, two interns are part of the internship programme, two former interns were hired into permanent positions, and close to 600 young people received employability skills training.

“We believe we can exceed the numbers that we publicly committed to as early as 2017, and we look forward to seeing hundreds of young persons between the ages of 18 and 29 turn out on March 17 for the employability skills sessions and the live interviews which was a big hit last year,” the release quotes Keisha Palmer Burke, Nestlé Jamaica’s head of corporate affairs, communications and consumer relationship.