Youth Development Programme: Decent Work for Young Workers

The Centre’s Youth Development Programme creates decent work opportunities for young workers, combining support to help out-of-work or disadvantaged youth looking for decent work with support to help employers recruit and cultivate a motivated, young workforce. Decent work for youth programmes are a highly effective tool for child labour remediation and prevention, as it offers decent work opportunities for youth in hazardous work and at-risk youth.  

The Youth Development Programme offers companies a comprehensive programme to create opportunity within their supply chains for decent work and development of young workers. The programme offers training and support on the employment of young workers, including onsite visits and walk-through to identify suitable roles and workstations for young workers and avoid hazardous work risks. We also review relevant internal policies and management process (including recruitment processes) to ensure these include adequate provisions to create a supportive environment for young workers that meets their specific needs and complies with international and local regulatory requirements. 

Available to employers large and small across both manufacturing and agricultural settings, the Youth Development Programme equips businesses with the skills and knowledge they need to recruit young workers with confidence. By reviewing existing juvenile worker policy and procedures and interviewing staff involved in the recruitment and employment of young workers, our team undertakes a comprehensive assessment of current young worker needs. The Youth Development Work Programme delivers training and support including: 

• Responsible recruitment of young workers

• Identifying common risk areas and hazardous work for young workers

• Suitable workstations/job roles for young workers 

• Meeting legal requirements related to young workers

• Best practice benchmarking

• Creating a supportive environment and management approach for young workers

The Centre’s Youth Development Programme also includes packages of soft skills and developmental training to support young workers, with a focus on: 

• Help build self-recognition and positive attitudes towards work and life

• Improve practical skills to reduce common work-related stress

• Equip workers with basic concepts and skills related to communication and conflict management

• To develop insight and ability in making self-assessment and personal action plan for career development

The training will cover keys topics in young workers’ professional and personal development, such as:

• Technical skills development: on- and off-the-job skills training, including job rotations

• Basic education: literacy skills, financial literacy and basic computer skills

• Soft and life skills, career skills, and prevention of gender-based violence

What does the programme achieve?

• The programme reaches the most vulnerable out-of-school youth: 67% of those participating in the Vietnam programme left school for economic reasons and many worked in hazardous conditions or in the informal sector before - with several children working in night clubs before joining the programme

• Long-lasting improvements in retention rates: The youth development programme in Vietnam and Indonesia led to a 58% increase of young workers planning to stay for two years or more

• Significant improvements in young worker management, including introduction of grievance mechanisms, identification of suitable tasks for young workers, customised production targets etc.

• Improved health and safety conditions within participating factories: 99% of past programme participants felt safe and expressed high satisfaction with working hours

• Increase in learning opportunities for young workers: past programme participants received technical & life-skills training & gained practical skills in sewing, quality control, career development etc.

Contact us to discuss how The Centre’s Youth Development Programme can support your business to create decent work opportunities for young workers and recruit juvenile workers with confidence.