Future in Progress: Why youth skills matter today

In 2024 alone, UniCredit Foundation engaged students from over 2,000 schools in programs developed in partnership with Junior Achievement and Teach For All. Additionally, with the launch of UCF Edu-Fund Platform UniCredit Foundation allocated €14 million to initiatives that address the multifaceted challenges of early school leaving and the lack of adequate preparation for university or entry into the job market. As part of its broader commitment to education and research, the Foundation also allocated €3.7 million to support 132 beneficiaries through scholarship and research programs across Europe.

According to the World Economic Forum, more than 70% of companies believe that the digital and green transition will reshape the way they do business, while in the next few years it is expected that 83 million "old" jobs will be lost, and 69 million new ones will be created, fundamentally changing the labour market.

We also continue to provide support through dedicated ESG initiatives. Last year, as the green transition continued to drive demand for so-called "green jobs”, we launched our Skills for Transition training programme, available to students in 6 countries in partnership with local universities. The programme offered people the opportunity to take a fully funded one-year Master or 4-month Bootcamp course, both aimed at boosting knowledge on green transition, sustainable finance, and Net Zero targets.

The programme also has a separate stream targeting workers at some of the companies most impacted by the green transition. More recently, we launched a new stream aimed at young people, aged 18 - 35 who are not in education, employment or training (NEETs), helping them to approach the job market and pursue a green training path focusing on climate change, clean energy, circular economy, and green/social entrepreneurships.

Learn more here » Skills for NEETs

In Italy, thanks to Banking Academy’s programmes Start-Up Your Life and Save4Young, we have reached nearly 550,000 high school, ITS and university students over the last decade. This year, two new streams were launched: Conversation about money – Kids, a special edition aimed at engaging elementary school pupils, their teachers and families, to learn basic finance, how money works, value of saving, smart spending and much more; and Economic (in)dependence, a fresh learning path designed to raise awareness among Generation Z about economic violence, methods to recognise it and challenge its normalisation.

In Germany, HVB financial workshops remains the cornerstone of our financial education efforts. Primarily focused on disadvantaged young people, there is a variety of formats each adapted to specific target group: beginners, trainees, migrants, pupils of different ages, university students, etc. Moreover, via Entrepreneurship Inclusive programme, HVB supports young people with disabilities unlocking their talents and better professional opportunities, while empowering female students to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams through Girls in Finance & Startups programme.

In the Central and Eastern European countries, we’ve achieved remarkable results with over than 25,000 beneficiaries of financial education in 2024. Our colleagues’ support continued also this year with hundreds of them joining the European and Global Money Week sparkling meaningful conversations about money, sustainability, and digital literacy. Whether at school or opening bank’s door to schoolchildren, our teams made a real difference support young minds to prepare for adult world.

The main enabler is for sure the UniCredit Corporate University, our Global Learning & Development blueprint, offering access to an ever-evolving portfolio of tailored learning opportunities and skill-based growth paths. From classroom to online trainings, with UniCredit Corporate University each employee can boost its capabilities and adopt proper skills for the future.

In addition, UniCredit developed diverse and robust Talent Programmes at country and divisional levels, aimed at accelerating our people’s development and next-generation readiness, as well as Graduate Programs offering a unique onboarding journey with job rotation to kick-start a truly international career.

Our recently established NextGen Community brings together nearly 100 young colleagues from the Holding taking ownership of strategic transversal projects exploring key topics of adaptability, innovation, new ways of working, transforming our workplace for good.

In Italy, we’ve adopted an ambitious hiring plan to strengthen our Commercial Network, support workforce rejuvenation and positive cross-generational exchange. In the past four years, we have welcomed 3,500 new young colleagues, while additional 2,000 are expected to join by 2027, leading to 14% of population being an average age under 35 compared to 7.7% in 2020.

A year ago, over 100 colleagues from across Central and Eastern Europe have joined the first cohort of TomorrowZ, a brand-new framework designed to spotlight motivated early-career employees and nurturing their development.

Meanwhile, our Generation Tandems initiative is redefining mentorship. By pairing employees with at least a 10-year age difference, both younger and older generations in Germany will have the opportunity to learn new skills, challenge their way of working, foster empathy, and collaboration.