Multidisciplinary professional services organisation Deloitte today announced a partnership with the Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation (ASSIST) to deliver a new Training of Trainers (TOT) programme to equip Filipino youth with skills to help them succeed in the new economy.
Under this inaugural program, Deloitte professionals will train 20 educators from the IT faculty at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) on agile methodology in a pilot run that kicks off today. The educators will undergo a two-day training on agile methodology – a project management process commonly used in software development that is based on iterative and incremental development, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing, cross-functional teams.
The partnership, inked by a memorandum of understanding between Mr. Uday Sreeram, Managing Director of Deloitte Consulting Philippines Delivery Centre and Mr. Sreeni Narayanan, Managing Director of ASSIST, aims to make a meaningful impact on issues that are critical to societal success through Deloitte’s corporate social responsibility program, WorldClass. Globally, Deloitte’s WorldClass initiative seeks to prepare 50 million people with the skills required for jobs of the future by 2030, inline with the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs).
Fredieric B. Landicho, Managing Partner & CEO, Deloitte Philippines hopes this will spur more collaborative partnerships to tackle the biggest challenges for the youth.
“As the world enters the age of the fourth industrial revolution, marked by accelerating innovation and adoption of automation, the future of work becomes a fundamental question for the Philippines,” Mr. Landicho said. “While some jobs will be lost and others will be created, nearly all jobs will be transformed. It is our responsibility to plan ahead to ensure that we equip our youth with the skills employers will demand in the future. At Deloitte, we will do this through WorldClass where we commit to apply our core skills and experience to improving education outcomes, developing job skills, and providing access to opportunities for Filipinos. WorldClass will link people with the opportunities they need to find meaningful work in the accelerated, digital, technology-driven economy.”
“Preparing for the future of work requires strong collaboration between public and private sectors,” said Mr. Uday Sreeram, Managing Director of Deloitte Consulting PDC. “I am very pleased that through ASSIST, we were able to target the right stakeholders for our corporate social responsibility effort. With ASSIST’s project management support, I am confident that we will be able to implement the TOT program successfully by training PUP faculty members on an accelerated approach to anticipating and managing the future of work. It is our hope that they will then apply this learning in their efforts to close the skills gap for Filipino youth.”
Reaffirming ASSIST’s purpose and support to the program, Mr. Sreeni Narayanan, Managing Director of ASSIST shared, “We believe it is important for students to be equipped with relevant skill sets that will prepare them for the new economy.We are excited to partner with Deloitte to develop innovative and sustainable solutions to bridge the skills gap. Starting with the TOT program on agile methodology,our educators will be equipped with the skills to help students become familiar with the ins and outs of the real world and to equip them with the right skillsets to take on challenges when they enter the workforce.”
Plans to expand the TOT program to other universities in the Philippines are underway as Deloitte hopes the curriculum will benefit more students and enable them to make informed decisions about their career paths.
Since its launch two years ago, Deloitte WorldClass has reached 4.7 million people and continues to expand with new programs being launched in India, China, South Africa and Southeast Asia. Deloitte aims to empower 2 million futures across Southeast Asia, and work with like-minded stakeholders to co-deliver programs to help the underrepresented or underserved population.
