The participants were given training on food and beverage services​,​ which included on-the-job exposure, to ensure they meet industry standards.  They were also mentored on leadership, communication, and critical thinking to equip them with the needed skills to thrive in their future workplace.

Following their graduation, the 53 trainees will now start their careers at one of McDonald​’​s 35 branches across Metro Manila.

“As your partner in prosperity, the United States is committed to working with the Philippine government, educational institutions, and the private sector to help unemployed Filipino youth become productive members of society, achieve their dreams, and contribute to the country’s economic growth,” said U.S. Ambassador MaryKay Carlson at the graduation ceremony held at the McDonald’s branch in San Antonio, Parañaque City.

“We at McDonald’s believe in the talent of our youth, and it only takes the right opportunities such as USAID’s YouthWorks PH program to match these young people’s perseverance and hard work.  By giving back and training our youth, we equip them with the right tools to succeed,” said Golden Arches Development Corp. Vice President for Marketing Margot Torres.

“PBEd’s commitment lies in assisting the youth to take significant steps toward gaining meaningful employment,” PBEd Chair Ramon del Rosario said, underscoring the organization’s role in the partnership.  “By providing them access to training and employment opportunities, we equip them with the necessary skills to build a brighter future for themselves and their families.  This is the YouthWorks PH story.” 

This training is part of USAID and PBEd’s $8.7-million YouthWorks PH Program, which has created more than 16,000 training positions and successfully placed over 6,000 youth in work-based training programs since 2018.  

U.S. President Joseph Biden and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. jointly announced this initiative during President Marcos’s visit to the White House in May 2023.

USAID’s UPSKILL Program will bring together U.S. universities, Philippine government agencies engaged in human capital development, and private sector partners to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in higher education institutions through faculty and staff training, curriculum improvements, and increasing community outreach and technology transfer. These efforts will improve the qualifications and career prospects of Filipino higher education graduates to continuously meet evolving workforce needs and enhance linkages between U.S. and Philippine universities.

The UPSKILL Program is implemented by RTI International through a consortium of U.S. universities, which includes Arizona State University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, and Philippine partners such as Edukasyon.ph and the Philippine Business for Education.

“The challenges and opportunities that young people face today in the workplace make college training and education critical for their future success,” visiting USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator for East Asia and the Pacific Sara Borodin said during the UPSKILL Program launch at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila.  “Through this new USAID program, the United States government reaffirms its commitment to working with our Filipino partners in transforming the higher education sector.”

Officials from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the Second Congressional Education Commission, the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Trade and Industry, the National Economic and Development Authority, and the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, as well as representatives from several Philippine universities attended the program launch.

“With this partnership with USAID, the Commission on Higher Education will provide unique opportunities for our colleges and universities to continuously innovate in response to the aspirations of the Philippines, and specifically that of our students,” CHED Executive Director Cinderella Filipina Benitez-Jaro said.  “Together, we will demonstrate the compelling value of internationally recognized training, cooperative research, and lifelong learning modalities being offered by Philippine higher education.”

While the future remains uncertain in the midst of the challenging circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for our future leaders to be prepared for any type of crises is empirical.

Last July 27. the Pilipinas Shell initiated a program that would prepare our nation’s next generation of industry leaders when members of 15 student organizations from the Philippines’ top universities completed the Shell Young Leaders Program (SYLP).

The SYLP started its pilot run in September of last year,  which is an intensive 8-month program that aims to strengthen leadership skills at the university level to produce well-rounded and future-ready Filipinos once they begin pursuing their respective career paths.

Pilipinas Shell President and CEO Cesar Romero explained why they initiated this program by saying, “Quite often, our country’s graduates are strong intellectually and academically. I would even use the term world-class.”

“But one area where they are less exposed is leadership and extracurricular activities,” Romero said.

“The main intent of the program is to encourage students and academic institutions to provide adequate focus on leadership, on extracurricular activities, and out-of-classroom learning experiences in order to help shape and develop graduates that are more competitive in the workforce,” the Pilipinas Shell President and CEO added.

Under the tutelage of some of Shell’s senior leaders, students went through capability building workshops and mentorship sessions covering a wide range of organizational skills such as branding, internal relations, strategic planning, communications, sustainability, and nation-building.

Throughout the program, participating organizations had applied their newly gained skills both internally and through various community projects, such as donation drives for the benefit of communities impacted by COVID-19.

“Our generation fears failure, we dread the fact that we’re going to fail an exam or that we won’t be successful,” said Mika Dacanai from the University of Santo Tomas’s Thomasian Junior Association for People Management (UST-TJAPM). “Upon hearing that the lecturers, our mentors, the panelists, and the Shell ambassadors that they do not fear failure, it definitely struck us because these people embrace failure and they love learning from it.”

Four out of the 15 organizations were awarded for their exemplary application of the capacities learned during the program. The University of the Philippines’ UP Circuit won first place, followed by UP Industrial Engineering Club. UP Aggregates Incorporated was awarded third place. Winning organizations were given cash prizes that will be used to strengthen their organization’s programs.

“The past eight months have been a great journey for us. SYLP has empowered us to develop leadership and operations, explore new methods and strategies in dealing with new challenges, and expand our network,” said Terence Arcalas from UP Aggregates Inc. “As Shell says, every drop counts, and with that, we’ll make sure we use each learning from the capability building and mentorship sessions to help more people in the coming months.”

A communications award was also awarded to De La Salle University’s Industrial Management Engineering Society (DLSU-IMES) for their excellence in executing social media communication campaigns.

Other student organizations that participated include the University of the Philippines’ Chemical Engineering Society, Engineering without Borders, the UP Career Assistance Program for Engineering Students, and UP Gears and Pinions. UST’s Operations Research Society of the Philippines also participated, along with DLSU’s Economics Organization.

In partnership with the Philippine Business for Education (PBED) group, SYLP was created with the vision of powering future-ready professionals who can contribute towards nation-building. Despite the two-month enhanced quarantine in Metro Manila occurring midway through the program, SYLP pivoted to innovative virtual sessions so that students could continue their training without disruption.

In conclusion, Romero said, “Rather than let the pandemic interrupt their training, we wanted the students to learn that with enough creativity and innovative thinking, they can overcome these kinds of external challenges. At Shell, we are committed to encouraging the youth to become nation-builders as they play a significant role in shaping the Philippines’ future.”