Generation in Europe in 2022

by Minh Huy Lai, Europe Chief Operating Officer @Generation

2022 was another eventful year, but in many unexpected ways. On the one hand, it was the first “back to normal” year with all of us in Europe learning to “live with COVID-19”. On the other hand, we didn’t have as much reprieve as we would have hoped, because on the 24th of February Russia invaded Ukraine in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which, among other consequences, led to higher inflation rates and put pressure on our cost structures. As we take a step back and take stock of what we have achieved in 2022, we are convinced that our work to break down barriers to meaningful employment is more important than ever. The following impact metrics and highlights from last year stand testament to the resilience and grit of our learners, staff members, partners, and funders in Europe.

Impact in Europe in 2022

Generation Europe operates in 5 countries (France, Spain, Italy, UK and Ireland), offers bootcamps in 46 cities, and works closely with over 2,500 employers. In 2022 alone, we’ve enrolled 4,500 learners. We’ve trained, mentored, and placed 3,560 learners into jobs across 22 professions in 5 key sectors (tech, healthcare, customer service, skilled trades, and green jobs). 38% of our graduates are female, 80% are below 30 years old, 68% have only vocational technical training or less, and the majority are from underserved communities (e.g., single mothers, ethnic minorities, school drop-outs), who face significant systemic barriers to finding meaningful work. Their climb to employment has historically been challenging, but now, with the global pandemic devastating entire sectors and livelihoods for millions of people, it has steepened dramatically. However, against all odds, 90% of our graduates found a job 6 months after the bootcamps and they earn on average 1,8x more than before joining Generation. 88% are still employed 180 days after job placement.

2022 Global Alumni Survey Highlights

In order to better understand our impact on alumni 2-5 years after graduation, in 2022 we conducted our fourth annual survey. As part of our research, we surveyed alumni from 13 countries, including 4 in Europe (UK, France, Spain, Italy), and looked at 4 dimensions to assess our impact: demonstrable career growth, financial health, physical and mental well-being, and community engagement.

Below are the key findings from 749 European alumni respondents’ feedback, 2-5 years after graduation, across the 4 dimensions:

• Demonstrable career growth: 79% of our alumni are engaged in paid work;
• Financial health: 53% of our alumni can meet their daily financial needs and save;
• Physical and mental well-being: 78% of our alumni are satisfied or very satisfied with their life;
• Community engagement: 88% of our alumni are still in touch with peers from Generation.

Partner Organizations

Unemployment is too complex of an issue for any single organization to tackle alone, and so collaborating with partners from the public, private and non-profit sectors, has enabled us to embed our 7-step methodology within large-scale, existing systems to tackle COVID-19 jobs recovery and beyond.

We work with partners at every step of our 7-step methodology, from learners sourcing (e.g. Pôle emploi in France, Fundación ONCE in Spain) to curriculum development (e.g. Retrofit Academy in the UK, Salesforce in Italy), where their existing expertise and local networks complement our own. We have an active pool of 2,500+ employers across Europe that offer our graduates job placements. We’ve also established over 65 partnerships with public institutions (e.g. Escuela de Organización Industrial in Spain, Conferenza dei Rettori delle Università Italiane in Italy, the City of Paris in France, education and training boards in Ireland, and the Department for Education in the UK) to scale our programs nationally.

Looking Ahead to 2023

In 2023, we aim to increase our impact in Europe by:

• Boosting placement rates up to 80% within 90 days of graduation;
• Launching 5 new in-demand programs in high growth sectors such as tech and green jobs;
• Serving underrepresented learners (e.g. mid-career job seekers, people with disabilities, etc.);
• Enhancing mentoring infrastructure and alumni support;
• Experimenting with alternative forms of employment (e.g. freelance, gig or remote jobs, etc.).

We are proud of the impact we had in Europe in 2022, and grateful to the learners, graduates, partners, and funders that have been a part of our story and offered us their unconditional trust and support. Looking ahead to 2023, we are energized by the many goals that we want to accomplish, yet we are also humbled by the magnitude of the work ahead of us, which is more important than ever. It takes courage to take on global unemployment, but together with our partners we believe we can rise to this challenge and fundamentally transform education to employment systems in Europe and around the world to prepare, place, and support people into life-changing careers that would otherwise be inaccessible.