One of IBM’s Good Works programmes in the US is the Summer Youth Work/Study Program, and the company reports that more than 2,200 high school students in 10 cities across the US will get a head start on careers this summer and be given an added incentive to stay in school (by learning what hard work really means?). The students will be placed in jobs and be given employment skills training as under the IBM programme, now entering its sixth year. The aim of the programme is to offer the students a chance to improve their minds, strengthen their self-image, get work experience and, most of all, motivate them to finish school, says Juan Sabater, director of community programmes for IBM. Employers receive no-cost help during the summer months when regular employees may be on vacation. Grants totalling $250,000 are being presented by IBM this month to community-based organisations in Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Miami, Milwaukee, Norwalk, Phoenix, San Antonio and Washington DC. An additional $1.9m in matching funds is coming from other companies and government agencies. The students receive salaries paid out of the grants for time spent at their summer jobs and in the classroom. Classes typically teach students interview techniques, curriculum vitae writing, and mathematics and English skills.
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