'Skills for the 21st Century' session aims to better prepare individuals for workforce

Manpower Inc., a world leader in workforce solutions, will sponsor the "Skills for the 21st Century" Knowledge track in the first Ashoka Future Forum, designed to harness the intellectual power of thought leaders across all sectors to create a common vision for how to prepare US talent throughout the education system and how to build a culture of lifelong learning among adult workers that ensures the US workforce is able to adapt as rapidly as the global economy is changing.

"Continuous skill development and training – and lifelong learning – are key in today's competitive labor market," said Tammy Johns, Manpower senior vice president of global wrkforce strategy. "The world of work is changing, and the U.S. education and job training infrastructure has not kept pace with these changes. It is critical that we shape talent for the next generation and the workplace of the future in order to prepare the workforce for an increasingly knowledge-based economy."

Johns will make the session's opening remarks and discuss best practices in readying workers of the future for success in the workplace. Manpower has been at the cutting edge of changing world of work trends for more than 60 years, and Johns will share the company's unique perspectives as the economy increasingly moves away from manufacturing to a services economy, the emergence of the knowledge economy and the decline of many traditional institutions which has required individuals to become more active in managing their career development.

During a workforce session titled "Putting Adults on the Path of Being Changemakers," Manpower will give a demonstration of MyPath, the free online career development social network that was officially launched in January. MyPath is organized entirely around advancing one's career - offering the resources, educational tools, contacts and assets needed to succeed in the contemporary workforce. MyPath leverages the best expert content and online social media technology to offer a first-of-its-kind lifetime career-planning tool.

The first Ashoka Future Forum will engage the country's foremost social innovators to envision the future of our society and to catalyze large scale, collaborative social change. At a pivotal time for the U.S. economy, the Ashoka Future Forum will leverage global experience to prepare a next generation of entrepreneurial problem-solvers.

"We need to teach our youth that they can help people; that they can lead; that they can make lasting and important changes in their communities and across the globe," said Bill Drayton, Ashoka CEO and founder. "Society, employers, educators and parents need to recognize that our children's successful personal and social development must start with a mastery of several complex skills - empathy, teamwork, leadership and change making."

Manpower is a strong advocate of initiatives to promote early education and set the stage for lifelong development. Manpower, since its inception, has been focused on development and training as an imperative for a sustainable economy. Programs throughout the world have been established to improve the skills of individuals. In the United States, Manpower has established TechReach, a curriculum and placement program for individuals to enter the work world as computer technicians. To date the program has placed more than 6,900 people. Manpower is also involved in the "Talent Dividend" initiative in the Milwaukee and Southeastern Wisconsin region aimed at a wide-reaching and systematic approach to increasing educational attainment to strengthen the region's innovative capacity and economic vitality.

Manpower's annual CSR Report, titled "People and Purpose," provides an update of the company's workforce development activities and programs. The complete report is available for download on www.manpower.comin the Social Responsibility section or at http://www.manpower.com/social/srreport.cfm.