ManpowerGroup 2004 Annual Report Download - page 21

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Mexico is a very young country, with one-quarter of its
population currently aged 17 – 29. One of the greatest
challenges for our economy is to help our young people
develop their potential and realize their skills, so that they
can meet the needs of the labor market, not only in large
multinational enterprises, but also in small and medium-
sized companies.
Over the past few decades, the country has gained a
“demographic bonus” consisting of 33 million children and
young people. Our aim is to ensure that, by 2010, at least
40 percent of that population has graduated from higher
education. Our economic success will depend on how well
we can raise the skill profile of our working population
both for their own benefit and for the good of the whole
nation, by committing to the individual person, who consti-
tutes the origin, engine and end of the national economy.
A NEW SOCIO-ECONOMIC MODEL
Our country’s ideological legacy, supported by some of
its labor unions, sometimes held the economy back. But
in the past 10 years, we have built up a new model of
employee–employer relations, framed in a New Labor
Culture, promoting effective social dialogue, raising people’s
awareness of the new competitive global realities, and
bringing productivity and competitiveness – with social
justice – into the labor arena.
We are committed to ongoing employee training and
technological innovation to enhance productivity. We have
introduced programs to enable unemployed and under-
employed individuals to access and transition to productive
jobs, contributing fully to the national economy. We also
have introduced training schemes and financial support
programs to foster self-employment in small businesses.
ADAPTABILITY AND INCLUSIVITY
Our Job Observatory project monitors available jobs and
skills demand, and directs our education programs to
fulfill this demand, so that businesses will find in Mexico a
ready pool of the right kind of skilled talent, and individuals
can be certain of finding a suitable job on completion of
their studies.
Alongside these programs, we have robust policies for
eradicating discrimination on grounds of age, gender or
disability. In particular, our Inclusive Firm Program acknowl-
edges Mexican companies’ efforts to include mentally and
physically disabled employees in their workforce.
We were pleased recently to be able to acknowledge the
major contribution in this area of Manpower’s ongoing
Caminemos Juntos partnership program in Mexico and
to grant them an Inclusive Firm award in recognition of
their efforts in helping to place several hundred disabled
people into productive employment.
IMPROVING JOB SKILLS OF A NATION (ABASCAL PERSPECTIVE)