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CSR
Build a Sustainable Tomorrow with TCS’ Corporate Social Responsibility
Highlights
- The World Economic Forum says that nine out of 10 jobs will require digital skills over this decade. Yet currently, 44% of Europeans aged 16-74 lack basic digital abilities, leaving a widening skills gap in the workplace.
- TCS partners with schools, non-profits, and government agencies across the globe to directly impact students underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.
- TCS’ goIT program works in partnership with schools, community groups, and other like-minded organizations that share the same desire to empower people by creating opportunities to engage with the digital economy.
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Changing trends in the European labor market
Our perpetually changing world, fueled by rapid technological change, is having a profound impact on the European labor market. Across Europe, employers are finding it harder to attract and retain staff with the right skill set for positions. According to Statista, 72% percent state it’s one of their three most pressing problems.
The World Economic Forum says that nine out of 10 jobs will require digital skills over this decade. Yet currently, 44% of Europeans aged 16-74 lack basic digital abilities, leaving a widening skills gap in the workplace. For example, by 2025, it’s estimated that the skills gap will lead to 1.67 million unfilled vacancies for Information and Communication Technology professionals.
Preparing for the unknown
The challenge for education, industry, and policy makers is to fulfil the rising demand for these skills, but how do you best prepare people for jobs that haven’t been created yet and for technologies that haven’t been invented?
Part of the solution is to tap into the unfulfilled potential of a diverse population that is currently being left untapped. That is the goal of the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) go Innovate Together (goIT) initiative, a digital innovation and career readiness program that’s been running for 15 years. goIT aims to:
- Inspire students to consider a career in computer science and technology
- Spark curiosity in their minds and enhance confidence and employability
- Empower students to design and develop innovative digital solutions for community problems
- Provide exposure and insight into varied roles within an IT company and the business world
- Challenge gender stereotypes by showcasing women in STEM as role models
TCS partners with schools, non-profits, and government agencies across the globe to directly impact students underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. With our industry-created, student-tested and teacher-approved curriculum, we introduce students to careers in STEM and provide a structured environment to design a tech-based solution to a global problem. All of this is done alongside the support and mentorship of TCS volunteers.
Go Innovate Together
Demystifying tech
The goIT program aims to unravel the tech sector and give skills and confidence to people who may not be aware certain jobs exist. The flexible, customized curriculum focuses less on technical skills such as computer coding and more on crucial skills like design thinking and presentation, which are needed to solve problems. The program is bespoken to each cohort and can take between 6 to 20 hours. At the end of the program, the participants create a tech-based solution to a problem they’ve identified in their own communities.
Many young people don’t yet understand that technology drives every aspect of our lives and is rapidly transforming the skills needed for tomorrow. The goal of goIT is to provide these same young people with the skills, confidence, and mindsets necessary to pursue careers of the future.
goIT successes
Crucially, the goIT program works in partnership with schools, community groups, and other like-minded organizations that share the same desire to empower people by creating opportunities to engage with the digital economy.
In 15 years, goIT has reached 250,000+ students across 47 countries and has been delivered in 21 languages. We take a hybrid approach, so the program can be delivered in person or online with guest lectures from TCS experts.
We’re trying to reach as many primary and secondary students at the right age, because in the Netherlands, for example, by the age of 14 kids choose a track that is either more technical and science related, or a more social, liberal arts track. So, we’re using the goIT program to spark their curiosity in STEM-related fields.
Could your organization be a goIT partner?
We’re always looking for likeminded organizations to partner with us to expand the reach of the program and reach more participants across Europe. If you would like to find out more, please reach out to Igor da Silva, Corporate Social Responsibility, Europe: igor.dasilva@tcs.com.