Russell Krumnow quoted in Marketplace segment on the 100,000 Opportunities Initiative
•
Our own Russell Krumnow was quoted in a Marketplace radio segment about the 100,000 Opportunities Iniative. This segment begins around 5:30 into this clip. The transcript and the audio can be found below.
More than a dozen big US companies are pledging to create more economic opportunity for out-of-work young people. Starbucks, Alaska Airlines, Target and Taco Bell are among the employers signed on to hire or train thousands of 16 to 24 years olds in the next three years. As Marketplace’s Amy Scott reports, that’s just a fraction of the young people who aren’t in school and don’t have jobs.
More than five and a half million 16 to 24 year olds are considered “disconnected”: out of school and out of work. The new coalition aims to connect at least 100,000 of them with apprenticeships, training programs and jobs by 2018.
“Clearly we have more to do, but this is a huge step in the right direction.” That’s Russell Krumnow, managing director of Opportunity Nation, an advocacy campaign. He hopes big names like Starbucks, CVS, Walgreens and Taco Bell will spur other companies to invest in young people.
Carl Van Horn directs the Heldrich Center of Workforce Development at Rutgers University. He says that while many of these companies pay relatively low wages for entry level work, it’s a beginning point for a person who has no work experience and they can build from that. “You can’t build on a career and develop success if you have no work experience to begin with.”
The Labor Department says the economy added more than 200,000 jobs last month. In that market, Van Horn says employers are increasingly competing for workers.
The coalition will hold its first job fair in Chicago a month from today.
Marketplace
Marketplace programs are currently broadcast by nearly 800 public radio stations nationwide across the United States and are heard by more than 12 million weekly listeners. The programs focus on the latest business news both nationally and internationally, the global economy, and wider events linked to the financial markets.
