The B20 Task Force on Employment has proposed five “Priority Actions for Los Cabos”
to G20 stakeholders. These have been developed based on three foundational principles:
first, that the priority actions be scalable, hence able to make a significant impact
on the challenge of unemployment; second, that they are able to be locally adapted
to match the social, political, and economic environments of the different G20 countries;
and third, that they be formulated and adopted in such a way that stakeholders can
be held accountable for their implementation over time. While all five priority
actions proposed by the task force represent sets of tangible, actionable ideas,
two ideas in particular represent significant opportunities for G20 stakeholders
to contribute to job creation.
I. Facilitate growth of small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) and innovative
business models.
Concrete action
Business leaders and associations, with the support of local governments, should
commit specific resources to supporting growth and innovation potential along value
chains, including identifying and strengthening high-potential smes, cooperatives,
and social enterprises.
In all G20 economies, significant employment could be created by targeting and supporting
those enterprises with both the desire and potential for rapid revenue and employment
growth. Larger organizations, particularly multinational corporations, have a unique
opportunity to identify and strengthen such entities, using their knowledge and
experience along value chains and building on existing supplier, customer, and community
relationships.
Commitments needed
· We call upon business leaders to commit to setting aside a specific or increased
amount of funding as well as leadership support for these activities, with the goal
of investing such resources along their value chain in the coming 12 months.
· We call upon governments from pilot countries to commit to creating enabling local
environments for such value-chain and community-related investing, and identifying
local government champions.
· We call upon G20 governments and academic leaders to invest in research on a robust
methodology for targeting those enterprises with characteristics that indicate high
growth potential.
II. Scale internships and apprenticeships.
Concrete action
Business leaders and associations, with the support of national and local governments
and academic institutions, should commit to a major campaign to scale and improve
the image and quality of apprenticeships and internships.
The existence of a skills mismatch between the demands of business and labor-force
supply creates unnecessary unemployment and retards growth. Particularly among young
people, both general employability skills and specific technical skills are often
lacking. This mismatch can be somewhat alleviated by scaling and improving the image
and quality of apprenticeships and internships, whereby job-relevant and career-enhancing
skills are imparted in a supportive environment.
Commitments needed
· We call upon business leaders to commit to a specific, incremental increase in
apprenticeships and internships, with a suggested increase of 20 percent for the
12 months ahead.
· We call upon G20 governments to upgrade and scale local apprenticeship and internship
programs by working with training providers, accrediting bodies, education departments,
and businesses on the content, curricula, and design of apprenticeships and internships.
· We call for the setting up of a pilot coalition of interested governments, academic
institutions, and businesses (in at least five countries across Europe, Asia, Africa,
North America, and Latin America), that will commit to designing and testing a crossG20
internship and apprenticeship exchange scheme, similar to the Erasmus program in
Europe and North Africa, by June 2013.