Challenge: During 2017 and 2018, the youth unemployment rate (18-30 years) in Serbia was on the level of 43%, and youth was waiting an average of 2 years to secure their first job. Additionally, according to research data, 64% of young people considered informal education as very important, while 37% claimed there were not enough informal education opportunities or that they hadn’t heard about them (63%).
In response to these data, which were not unique to Serbia but reflected trends in the entire region, and with the desire to address them, Coca-Cola HBC globally conceived the youth development project “Coca-Cola Youth Support .” The project included training sessions, workshops, lectures, and the online platform for education and networking with peers.
Activities: V+O developed a communication strategy for the implementation of the global project and carried out the following activities:
- Proposal and selection of project partners – in the governmental sector (ministries, institutions), civil sector (associations, organizations), and the private sector (HR partners);
- Proposal and selection of cities (smaller cities with a sufficient young population and employment opportunities such as new investments, existing factories, etc.), visiting and negotiating partnerships with them;
- Adaptation of modules and materials from the Coca-Cola HBC Talent program together with HR partners
- Adaptation of modules and materials from the Coca-Cola HBC Talent program together with HR partners;
- Organization of 130 three-day workshops in Serbia and Montenegro during the two-year campaign.
- Finding suitable venues for workshops in each city;
- Development of workshop materials;
- Organization of catering for each city;
- Creation of a model for tracking the effects of workshops;
- Organization of initial and final conferences (finding venues, branding spaces, organizing catering, material production, technical support, communication with participants);
Results for Serbia:
- Established collaboration with the National Youth Office, National Employment Service, Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs, NALED, and 32 cities and municipalities;
- 110 workshops organized in 32 cities in Serbia;
- 2,737 certificates awarded to workshop participants;
- 515 young people found employment after the workshop (19%);
- 220 young people started internships after the workshop (8%);
- 856 young people started additional education after the workshop (31%);
- Program results were the best within the Coca-Cola HBC Group of 28 countries, and the program was presented as an internal case study in the Coca-Cola HBC corporation;
Results for Montenegro:
- Established collaboration with the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, Employment Agency, and 7 cities in Montenegro;
- 20 workshops organized in 7 cities;
- 484 certificates awarded to workshop participants;
- 116 young people found employment after the workshop (23%);
- 55 young people started internships after the workshop (11%);
- 148 young people started additional education after the workshop (29%);
