How Generation placed 125,000 people in jobs worldwide

December 17, 2024 Ten years ago, McKinsey created the nonprofit Generation with a simple yet bold mission: to train and prepare adults for lasting, meaningful careers.

Through its comprehensive programming in skills development, employer engagement, and ongoing mentorship, Generation empowers people to achieve economic mobility and a better quality of life-with over 125,000 graduates to date.

The independent nonprofit organization has grown to operate in 17 countries working with 18,000 employers across 40 professions, such as green jobs, technology, healthcare, skilled trade, and customer service.

The data shows employers and learners are reaping long-term benefits: 78 percent of employers repeat hiring from Generation, and 76 percent of graduates remain employed two to five years post-program. Also, three-quarters are in jobs directly linked to their Generation training, and 60 percent earn a living wage, which is roughly 40 percent above minimum wage.

We sat down with Generation CEO Mona Mourshed, who previously led McKinsey's education work, to hear about Generation's secret sauce, its impact on its graduates' lives, and what lies ahead.

What is the unique approach that has made Generation so successful?

Mona: We define our success by achieving breadth, depth, and durability simultaneously. Breadth is the footprint of our programming-the number of graduates, our employers, our countries, our professions; depth is employment and income outcomes three to six months post-program; and durability is employment income and well-being up to five years post-program.

Many of our learners are trying to move from long-term unemployment to a career with a living wage, but they face structural barriers. We've developed a holistic approach, including social supports, job placement, and on-the-job support to accelerate and sustain their success.

What are some of the biggest challenges Generation faces today?

Mona: The entry-level job space has been changing dramatically, particularly over the last 18 to 24 months, with the advent of AI. Instead of ten software development jobs, there may be only five. In some regions, we are also seeing a decline in wage level of 10 to 15 percent for the same job. We are actively identifying which of our 40 professions are catapulted by AI versus experiencing a shrinkage.

What has been your greatest lesson learned so far?

Mona: When it comes to recruiting participants, we found social media messaging to be very effective in some places, but in others, we needed to engage with the community in person. We also formed partnerships with nonprofits that are in adjacent services-like food and housing security-and built awareness with government and job agencies.

During the pandemic, we had to pivot dramatically and began an online training series for healthcare professionals on how to protect themselves and their patients. Hundreds of thousands of healthcare professionals around the world went through that program. We had previously thought in-person programs were required to meet our goals. But the pandemic experience taught us that we could achieve the same impact through online programming-an important breakthrough.

What has been your proudest moment over the past decade?

Mona: Our early Generation graduation events, when they were in person. Many of our graduates hadn't had an opportunity to invite family members to an event celebrating an achievement; they hadn't had the ability to show a job offer letter with meaningful income and say to their child, "We're going to live a better life now."

What role has McKinsey played in Generation's trajectory?

Mona: Over a thousand McKinsey colleagues have contributed to our impact, including many McKinsey fellows who have supported our work across the world. We've also had terrific pro bono support, particularly around our data and tech infrastructure. McKinsey colleagues who have continued to serve on boards, both at the country and global level, have been able to leverage their networks to introduce us to potential employers. We are very grateful for the role that McKinsey has played and hopefully will continue to play.

What's next for Generation?

Mona: We believe we'll be able to reach anywhere from 400,000 to 500,000 graduates by 2030, and we want to continue to be at over 80 percent job placement within three to six months. We've learned a lot about how to gather data on job durability over time in a way that is cost effective. That data is invaluable to informing programming and ensuring we can live up to our mission. We'd like to share this approach with many more in this space so more people can experience the joy of meaningful work and a good wage.

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