Bridgestone shows its commitment to European Pact for Youth

At a meeting held in Brussels on 24 November to mark the first anniversary of the European Pact for Youth, Eduardo Minardi, executive chairman of Bridgestone EMEA, reiterated Bridgestone’s support for the programme. Speaking after the meeting, Minardi stated: “At Bridgestone, we are committed to making a continued contribution towards increasing youth training and inclusion in the work force. This includes more than 700 apprenticeships, traineeships and entry level jobs at our sales, retail, R&D and manufacturing sites across Europe under the Pact for Youth.”

The meeting of European and business leaders was co-chaired by Marianne Thyssen, European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, and Viscount Etienne Davignon, Minister of State and President of CSR Europe, initiators of the programme. At the meeting, details of were shared on results and achievements for the first year’s activities, including the creation of 15,000 business-education partnerships in Europe offering more than 84,000 apprenticeships, traineeships and entry-level jobs. Participants at the meeting committed to making business-education partnerships the “new normal” across Europe, both at an EU-level and nationally.

Minardi added: “Bridgestone will continue to develop this policy by cooperating with European schools and universities, and providing on-the-job training and work opportunities right across our field of activities – from tyre fitters in retail outlets to graduate engineers and chemists in our European Technical Centre near Rome.”