Symantec Invest $2 Million To Tackle Youth Unemployment

If you are going to launch a new CSR initiative then having one of the most powerful and well-known politicians in the world standing next you may just help get it noticed.

Former US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, recently announced the new pilot programme called Symantec Cyber Career Connection (SC3) at the Clinton Global Initiative America Meeting in Denver.

The programme aims to address youth unemployment through training and career support to help fill a substantial gap in cybersecurity jobs through a collaboration with NPower (@NPower), YearUp (@YearUp) and LifeJourney. The pilot kicks-off in August in the San Francisco Bay Area, Baltimore and New York City.

“Symantec is committed to making the world a safer and better place, and as a leader in cybersecurity we believe we can help solve the cyber career gap and move underserved young adults –including people of color, women and veterans – out of low-end jobs and into highly paid and meaningful careers.

Symantec and the Symantec Foundation made an initial investment of $2 million in the Symantec Cyber Career Connection and will provide the curriculum and products to implement the program. While this is a pilot program, it’s expected to expand globally over the years and I look forward to experiencing the benefits this program brings to our workforce, Symantec, and the broader industry." said Cecily Joseph (@CecilyJosephCR), Vice President of Corporate Responsibility and Chief Diversity Officer at Symantec.

This is definitely one story to watch with a rags to riches style case study just waiting to be found. If there are allegedly 300,000 currently empty cybersecurity jobs, with 60,000 of those available to somebody without a four-year college degree, then maybe there's new path to a lucrative career for somebody from one of those targeted social groups.

For further information head over to Symantec's blog for the details on SC3 here.