Corporate responsibility of coaching young people in working life on the increase

Alma Media Corporation     Press release       25 May 2011

Corporate responsibility of coaching young people in working life on the
increase
Summer staff often lack knowledge of the rules of working life

Of employers, 37 % find that young people clearly lack knowledge of the rules of
working life. This lack of knowledge manifests itself, for example, as
unauthorised absences and failure to come to work on time. However, those young
summer employees who are aware of the rules usually also work accordingly, and
on the whole, employers are content with their young summer staff. This is shown
in the study commissioned by the Finnish Children and Youth Foundation (FCYF)
and conducted by T-Media as part of the Responsible Summer Job 2011
(Vastuullinen kesäduuni 2011) campaign. Altogether 120 companies and employers
in the public sector all around Finland took part in the study.

According to Economic Information Office expert Markku Tenkamaa young people do
not get the training that they need at home or at school to enter working life.
This means that the role and responsibility of companies in introducing young
people to the practises of working life has become more significant. A summer
job is a great opportunity to learn the skills needed later in working life.

These skills can be further improved with a proper induction, which is an
important part of a summer job. Young people, young women in particular, are
worried about managing the challenges in their work. With a thorough and
respectful induction, employers can ease these fears and worries.

Enthusiasm and a good attitude are the recipe for landing a summer job
According to the study, the motivation and positive personality of the applicant
are the most important factors considered when selecting summer staff. Nine out
of ten employers consider motivation and six out of ten employers personality a
very significant criterion in recruitment. Although young job seekers think that
previous work experience is the key to success, it is actually considered very
important by only six percent of employers, whereas the right kind of education
is considered very important by 27 % of employers.

Leena Malin, managing director at The Finnish Association for Human Resource
Management - HENRY ry confirms this. "Good attitude is what we are looking for".
"An enthusiastic personality and motivation are key elements in succeeding in
ones tasks. Summer workers usually don´t have much work experience yet anyway."

Summer job campaign welcomes companies to take on the challenge
The responsible summer job 2011 campaign, led by the Finnish Children and Youth
Foundation (FCYF) and Alma Media, is challenging employers to offer more and
better summer jobs to young people. The campaign will highlight the principles
of a good summer job, through which both the summer employee and employer stand
to benefit more from the experience.

Over 60 employers are taking part in the campaign, offering more than 15 000
responsible summer jobs.

Further information:
Antti Järventaus, Development Manager, the Finnish Children and Youth
Foundation, tel. [phone]
Riikka Poukka, Corporate Responsibility Co-ordinator, Alma Media Corporation,
tel. [phone]

Links:
The study report is available atwww.nuori.fi/kesatyotutkimus. The campaign
website can be accessed at facebook.com/kesaduuni2011 and
www.nuori.fi/kesaduuni.

Alma Media in brief

Alma Media is a dynamic media company whose best-known products are Aamulehti,
Iltalehti, Kauppalehti and Etuovi.com. Alma Media employs approximately 2,800
professionals. The company´s net sales in 2010 totalled MEUR 311.4 with an
operating margin of 13.9 per cent. Alma Media´s share (ALN1V) is listed in the
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Exchange. Read more at www.almamedia.fi

FCYF in brief
The Finnish Children and Youth Foundation is an expert at young people´s life
skills, promoting children´s and young people´s wellbeing and preventing
problems.  The foundation, set up in 2001, operates in Finland as well as in
several developing countries. Read more atwww.nuori.fi

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