Campaign aims to bring young people and business together

Anna Scott

Young people have been encouraged to predict the workplace of 2020 in order to connect with British businesses, in a challenge launched by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.

The Opening Doors II challenge asks 14 to 21-year-olds to anticipate company cultures, job descriptions and how technology and tools will change over the next seven years. The campaign also calls on businesses to make access to jobs fair and open for all young people.

The social enterprise called MyKindaCrowd will bring together the young people to face the challenges set by businesses.

“The working world is changing rapidly and young people have a unique perspective that can be invaluable to today’s businesses,” said Will Akerman, managing director of MyKindaCrowd. “Our Opening Doors challenge gives young people a clear voice and forms an important part of the Deputy Prime Minister’s Opening Doors initiative to help businesses engage with and understand their future workforce.”

Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister, added: “I’m pleased to be working with MyKindaCrowd, helping young people connect with the world-of-work via work-experience.”

Twenty winners will join Nick Clegg in a VIP trip to the Opening Doors Awards ceremony on 5 November 2013.

Opening Doors II follows a MyKindaCrowd challenge in June 2013, where the Deputy Prime Minister invited 120 young people from disadvantaged areas to take part in a tour of a number of companies in London, including Barclays, Channel 4, O2, Fujitsu, PwC and Siemens.

The challenge is live now and runs until 24 October 2013. Entry is open to anyone aged 14 to 21 who resides in the UK and entries can be submitted by signing up, for free, to MyKindaCrowd. For more details about the challenge, visit: http://www.mykindacrowd.com/Challenges/mission-opening-doors-ii