London Inc. September 2022 - 26

COVE R
in positions that have a more long-term outlook. This is
especially true for young people dealing with complex social
issues that often serve as barriers to meaningful employment.
" For youth who are facing these barriers, we're likely going
to need a lot of these supports, " McGuire says. " It allows us to
have that wrap-around, long-term approach. "
It's a recognition, tacit or explicit, that YOU's mission of
improving the conditions experienced by many of the young
people they help involves more than just getting them into a
job and calling it a day.
" The traditional, formal route of hiring doesn't work for
all youth, " McGuire explains. " We're asking, 'What are the
alternatives that we can do to get youth in the door?' "
Sometimes that means playing advocate to employers to
convince them to take on a placement. Sometimes it means
providing bus passes to young people to get to their first day
of work. In one case, McGuire recalls, it meant rolling up his
sleeves and installing an electric motor on a young person's
bike so that she could get to work more reliably. " One of our
budget lines is 'Whatever it Takes,' " he says proudly.
On top of helping the youth employee, McGuire believes
extended supports will also help bring more businesses on
board. Having been doing this for many years, YOU already
26|londonincmagazine.ca|SEPTEMBER 2022
has a roster of businesses they work with who understand the
flexibility required and are committed to working toward the
larger goals for youth workers. But as the economy changes
- and as more business continue to grapple with labour
shortages - YOU wants to be able to expand their placement
options. And that is something that extended supports should
help with.
" ONE OF OUR BUDGET LINES
IS 'WHATEVER IT TAKES' "
-Justin McGuire
" A lot of larger employers will have a whole HR practice in
place, " McGuire notes. " We want to challenge that a little bit
in terms of what kind of flexibility they have. "
If the program is successful, McGuire says it will only
strengthen the case for making an investment in a young
worker early - in taking a chance on someone.
" If you're hiring youth anyways, why not hire the youth that
we have? " he says. " We're looking for employers who have the
same values. They see the benefits of investing in youth - and
they want to do what they can. "
London Inc. September 2022

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