Citigroup to hire 6,000 youth in Asia as unemployment soars

[HONG KONG] Citigroup is embarking on hiring 6,000 young people in Asia over the next three years in an effort to help cushion the region from a blowout in youth unemployment.

It's also offering 60,000 job training opportunities for youth below the age of 24 over the next three years across its retail and institutional businesses in the region, the New York-based bank said on Friday. Citi and its Citi Foundation pledged to invest US$35 million in philanthropic contributions and grants to improve the employability of youth from low-income and underserved communities in Asia by 2023.

The Asia-Pacific is home to more than half of the world's youth population, estimated at 700 million people. They now account for almost half of the region's unemployed, even though they make up just 20 per cent of the working-age population, according to the International Labor Organization.

Projections through the end of 2020 in 13 countries show sizable jumps, with youth unemployment rates doubling from 2019 in some cases, the bank said.

"Communities in Asia-Pacific are facing a youth unemployment crisis, especially among low-income and underserved groups, due to the impact of Covid-19," said Peter Babej, Citi's Asia-Pacific chief executive officer.

The Asia-Pacific is Citi's largest region by revenues outside North America, contributing around 25 per cent of global revenues based on 2020 earnings reports year to date.

The jobs will be offered across different businesses in the region including banking, capital markets and advisory, markets and securities services and consumer banking, a Hong Kong-based spokesperson said.

The programme will cover a mixture of new positions and annual hiring needs, the spokesperson said. Hiring will be done across the Asia-Pacific, but many of the jobs are expected to come in South-east Asia, he said.

BLOOMBERG