Accenture to provide 3 million with jobs skills by 2020

The Skills to Succeed initiative from Accenture has proven to be successful, the firm’s 2014 Corporate Citizenship report shows. To expand its success, the firm as set the goal to provide 3 million people with the skills needed to secure employment or entrepreneurship opportunities by 2020. Other targets to be reached include increasing the focus on successfully transitioning people from skill-building programmes to sustainable jobs and bringing organisations together to close global employment gaps.

Professional services firm Accenture recently released its 2014 Corporate Citizenship report, titled ‘Making a Measurable Difference’, in which it details its impact during fiscal 2014 across five areas: Corporate Governance, Skills to Succeed, Environment, People and Supply Chain, as well as announces a series of 2020 goals. 

Skills to Succeed
Accenture launched the ‘Skills to Succeed’ initiative in 2009 to address the global need for skills that open doors to meaningful, lasting employment and economic opportunity and to advance employment and entrepreneurship opportunities in markets around the world. By mobilising its people, partners, clients and others, the consulting firm strives to make a measurable and sustainable difference in the economic vitality and resilience of individuals, families and communities.

In 2010 the first goal of the initiative was set at equipping more than 700,000 people globally with the skills to get a job or build a business by 2015. The 2014 report shows that this goal was reached and surpassed, as the firm, together with its strategic partners, equipped more than 800,000 people with the needed skills between fiscal 2011 and 2014. To achieve this success, Accenture has, among others, contributed more than $220 million to support corporate citizenship efforts between fiscal 2011 and 2014. In addition, it donated several thousands of hours of its people’s time. 

Goals
To continue the success of the initiative, the firm has set new goals to be reached by 2020: 

• Demand-led skilling: Together with its partners, Accenture aims at equipping more than 3 million people with skills to get a job or build a business. To achieve this, investments will be needed to design programmes that “build relevant skills aligned to market opportunities, and market demand can change quickly.”
• Employment and entrepreneurship outcomes: Accenture will increase its focus on the successful transition of individuals from skill-building programmes to sustainable jobs and businesses. The firm also pledges to improve its ability to measure and report on these outcomes.
• Collaboration for systemic change: Accenture has committed itself to bringing together more organisations across sectors to create large-scale, lasting solutions aimed at closing global unemployment gaps. “We recognise that no single organisation can adequately address the issues of employment and entrepreneurship. It takes collaboration, working across an ecosystem of non-profit partners, government agencies, employers and other donors, to create meaningful work, lasting change and sustainable economic growth for millions of people worldwide,” explains the report. 

The report concludes: “We are energised by the opportunities to build on the significant momentum and success of our programmes to increase our impact. At the same time, we recognise that this journey does not come without challenges. Closing global employment gaps is a complex issue, and solutions will not come easily. However, we are more confident than ever in our ability to deepen our impact, drive innovation and further engage our people and partners.” 

Skills to Succeed initiatives
Examples of Accenture’s Skills to Succeed initiatives include: partnering with Girls Who Code to illustrate its commitment to women by investing in closing the gender gap in technology, with Ashoka to establish the Talent Growth Initiative aimed at bridging the skills gap, and with The Prince’s Trust to help expand the reach of its flagship employability programme ‘Get Into’.