Starbucks and 28 other US companies to create jobs for disconnected youth

Last month big US companies launched 100,000 Opportunities that aims to provide better conditions for the 5.5 million Americans aged 16 to 24 who are neither attending school nor working. Economists call these young people "disconnected youth".

The effort to solve youth unemployment was started by Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO, who said that his company will guarantee to provide 10,000 jobs by 2018. Officials of the company were glad with the participation of other new companies and that they did not have to enlist them for their participation.

For the joining companies, hiring disconnected youth is practical and good for business. While the unemployment rate fell, the number of workers for entry-level jobs has dramatically dropped.

Companies have realized the urgency to resolve the problem on disconnected youth because of the negative impact it has on the community. The Social Science Research council said that the country is spending a lot of money for these kids who are not in school or at work.

The Starbucks CEO has been expressive of his call to shareholders regarding the need for his company to show social responsibility and launching the coalition is just one of the many ways. Schultz also recognizes that the issue of disconnected youth is a complicated issue that needs the participation of most sectors of the society. He feels that now is the time for the private companies to do their share because the public and non-profit sectors have already been in this issue for long.

Majority of the 29 companies joining the initiative have agreed to participate in a sequence of job and training fairs - the first one of which will start on August 13 in Chicago.

Apart from Starbucks, other companies joining the job fair include Microsoft, Chipotle Mexican Grill, CVS Health, Target, Pizza Hut, T-Mobile and Hyatt just to name a few. The job fair expects more than 3,000 young people from the place where hundreds of jobs will be offered on the spot. The fair will also include various workshops, skill development lessons and college counselling.