The Bertelsmann Foundation hires Ecorys for EU youth employment study

Ecorys has been hired by the Bertelsmann Foundation to run a study into projects that work with unemployed youth across Europe. Youth unemployment remains an almost intractable problem, with long-term unemployment often leading to severe negative effects for those affected. Recommendations from Ecorys will form the basis for possible future projects from the not-for-profit organisation.

The Bertelsmann Foundation is Germany’s largest private non-profit. The organisation was founded by Reinhard Mohn, who, at the helm of Bertelsmann, turned the company into one of the world’s largest media houses and publishers. The Bertelsmann Foundation is primarily focused on supporting its stated aims through researching and publishing reports. The funding for the organisation is derived from dividends generated by its majority stake in Bertelsmann.

Youth unemployment across Europe has become a major issue for governments and people. Unemployment among youth jumped from around 15% before the 2008 crisis to 23.3% five years later. Some countries are particularly hard hit, with Spain and Greece recently seeing the number of their youth not in employment, education or training hitting 50%.

According to statistics from Ecorys, the number of youth, aged between 15 and 19 who have been unemployed for more than a year, increased to 6.9% last year. Long-term unemployment is of particular concern, insofar as it affects both current situations, due to immediate financial and social effects, but also the multiple long term effects, including subsequent lower salaries, higher risk of future unemployment and reduced life chances.

In a bid to better understand the situation around youth unemployment in Europe, the Bertelsmann Foundation has hired Ecorys to create a map of ongoing projects surrounding youth unemployment. The firm’s analysis will be used to create recommendations to the Bertelsmann Foundation around projects with proven practices for dealing with youth unemployment, which will set the foundation for future projects from the organisation's policy makers and programme developers.