UK: The Sustainable Hospitality Alliance has released a new training curriculum to help combat youth unemployment.
The curriculum is designed to give unemployed youth both skills and self-confidence to build a future in the hospitality industry and to start their careers.
The development of the curriculum was supported by IHG Hotels & Resorts through a legacy foundation gift. The company hopes to upskill potential colleagues, support local employment, and fill the industry’s talent gap.
Yasmin Diamond, executive vice president of global corporate affairs for IHG Hotels & Resorts, said: “Travel and tourism has long been a thriving industry, typically accounting for one in 10 jobs around the world, and through our IHG Academy programme, IHG has expertise and a good foundation in driving community employment through skills development, education and mentoring. As we come through this pandemic and get back to better times, IHG is proud to support the creation of this new training curriculum, which provides crucial opportunities to those most in need in our communities, and a chance to build a fulfilling career in hospitality.”
This curriculum comes at a rebuilding time for the hospitality industry, with the potential to help many unemployed youths to gain industry jobs. Forecasts suggest that as many as 100 million jobs could return to the sector in 2021, as travel and tourism jobs made up about 25 per cent of all employment between 2014 and 2019.
Sustainable Hospitality Alliance CEO, Madhu Rajesh, said: “We are committed to addressing youth unemployment which is having a devastating impact on one in five young people around the world, leaving them extremely vulnerable to poverty and exploitation. As the UN Sustainable Development Goals demonstrate, partnership is essential to address the scale of this issue, and we’re proud to share our experience and resources to ensure that more young people are getting the support they need. We thank IHG Hotels & Resorts for their support, and all our partners for their part in the development and accessibility of this curriculum.”
The Alliance has a history of working to combat youth unemployment, and this curriculum builds upon its existing program. The curriculum works to incorporate basic skills learned in employee training in the hospitality industry to technical expertise, which is provided by The Indian Hotel Company Limited. The curriculum includes about 100 hours of teaching, so that participants can learn skills including life skills, communications, digital training, English, interview skills, and an introduction to hospitality. These skills can be used in the hospitality industry or can be transferred to other industries as well.
This free resource can be used by community and training organisations all over the world, and the Alliance wanted to be sure that all youth of all different backgrounds could benefit from the curriculum.
To promote inclusion the Alliance implemented a disability inclusion review by Inclusive Features which was funded by UK aid. This inclusion review was implemented with young people with disabilities in Kenya and Nigeria.
The curriculum also aims to support young people who are survivors of or at risk of human trafficking in India. This idea was supported by the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery with funding from the United States government.
The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation helped to fund the review of a streamlined and sustainable model for the curriculum.
The new curriculum has seemed successful so far, as trainees have praised the program.
Marsha, a curriculum trainee, said: “The training has enabled me to stop doing casual work of just washing people’s clothes and idling by sitting at the door of my house. This training has helped me see myself and the potential I have and that in all things I can make it in life.”
Another trainee, Eleanora, said: “The programme has helped me to be different, to be a pioneer and a leader in the hospitality sector.”
