The White House announces plan to employ 180,000 youth

The Obama Administration has announced its intention to launch before March 5, 2012 a Summer Jobs+ Bank, a one-stop search tool for youth to access postings for any participating employers seeking to reach them where they are online.

The search tool builds upon an open standard, the JobPosting schema and will include technical and promotional support by Google, Internships.com, AfterCollege, LinkedIn and Facebook. The Corporation for National and Community Service has also released a new toolkit created in collaboration with the WHCCS and employers to support businesses and communities in their efforts to help young people become productive citizens and connect to greater opportunities.

“America’s young people face record unemployment, and we need to do everything we can to make sure they’ve got the opportunity to earn the skills and a work ethic that come with a job," said President Obama in a White House press release.

"This is an all-hands-on-deck moment. That’s why we’re launching Summer Jobs+, a joint initiative that challenges business leaders and communities to join my Administration in providing hundreds of thousands of summer jobs for America’s youth,” Obama said.

Three key ways organizations can engage are:

1. Learn and Earn: Provide youth jobs for the summer of 2012 in the form of paid internships and/or permanent positions that provide on-the-job training. Of the roughly 180,000 job commitments announced today more than 70,000 are Learn and Earn commitments
2. Life Skills: Provide youth work-related soft skills, such as communication, time management and teamwork, through coursework and/or experience. This includes resume writing or interview workshops and mentorship programs.
3. Work Skills: Provide youth insight into the world of work to prepare for employment. This includes job shadow days and internships.

More information about this initiative can be found at dol.gov/summerjobs.
Photo: White House - Obama on telephone in Oval Office.