Companies in Europe pledge 100K new youth jobs

VEVEY, Switzerland (AP) — Some 200 companies are joining forces to create jobs and training opportunities with the aim of helping the one of every four Europeans under the age of 25 who is unemployed.

The alliance of major companies — including Adecco, AXA, Cargill, CHEP, DS Smith, EY, Facebook, Firmenich, Google, Nielsen, Publicis, Salesforce and Twitter and White & Case — pledges to generate thousands of new jobs or apprenticeships and internships that lead to jobs over the next several years.

Laurent Freixe, CEO of Nestle Europe, told reporters Thursday "we are confident that more than 100,000 opportunities will be giving in the coming years, but it should go beyond that."

He said Nestle, which is leading the alliance, has created 8,000 of the 20,000 new positions it promised to generate by 2016.