Paris, France, 18th June 2024 – The Hg Foundation, a grant-giving charity focused on improving tech education and skills, is awarding a second grant of €1.1 million to Generation France to continue its partnership supporting disadvantaged and underrepresented adults to achieve economic mobility through tech careers. The Foundation first funded the programme in 2021.

1.4 million people aged 15-29 in France are not in education, employment or training, leading to inequalities with an economic impact estimated at €150 billion. At the same time, Tech remains the most active industry for recruitment in France; however, 61% of Tech employers face difficulties sourcing talent. Generation France focuses on closing this gap through comprehensive technical and soft skills training to disadvantaged and unemployed individuals while supporting their job search.

In the first 2.5 years of partnership between The Hg Foundation and Generation France, almost 900 learners, of which 89% were unemployed and 20% faced housing challenges prior to the programme, completed their training for tech jobs. Following the programme, 88% of graduates secured a tech job within six months. During the first phase of this partnership, The Hg Foundation’s funding also enabled Generation to carry out their first independent evaluation confirming the positive impact and return on investment of the programme. You can read a blog post from Fatène Ben-Hamza, CEO of Generation France, here reflecting on our first few years of partnership.

This renewed €1.1 million commitment to Generation France will fund the development of tech programmes, including the launch and pilot of new ones, while attracting and placing a larger learner base. The grant will also support a second independent impact evaluation as well as support the organisation’s long-term sustainability as they submit a proposal to the French Ministry of Economy for a social impact bond.

Fatène Ben-Hamza, CEO of Generation France, said: “We, at Generation France, are delighted and grateful for the renewed support of The Hg Foundation. Working with The Hg Foundation’s team has been instrumental in our development and capacity building in the last 3 years, allowing us not only to scale up our programs but to also conduct an independent evaluation study to support our development effort. Our most sincere thank you to The Hg Foundation's team and Trustees for your continuous support and trust.”

Yanis, a graduate from Generation France’s Digital Customer Care programme, said:

“Training at Generation France has been decisive for my career path: I've now mastered the software needed for my role, prioritized tasks and gained solid experience. The training enabled me to improve my skills, meet professionals and get a job that perfectly matched my goals.”

Bertrand Goetchel, a Principal at Hg who leads on the partnership, said:

“We are delighted to extend our support to Generation France after an impactful first collaboration. The positive results received both from the independent evaluation and more importantly Generation France’s learners speak volumes on its social and economic contribution in France. We look forward to further scaling Generation France’s outreach and leveraging Hg’s broader community and ecosystem, to support underrepresented and disadvantaged French adults to get a foothold in Tech and shape the future of one of the most dynamic ecosystems in the world.”

About The Hg Foundation:

The Hg Foundation’s vision is that the tech workforce of the future harnesses the talents of all, regardless of background.  It does this by supporting education and employment-based programmes across the UK, USA and Europe where it can demonstrate measurable, long-term and scalable impact and make a difference to those that need it most.  To date it has committed $25m to programmes that will reach over 50,000 young people and adults from under-represented backgrounds. The Foundation’s work is solely funded by Hg – a leading investor in European and transatlantic software and services businesses. The Hg Foundation is registered Charity no. 1189216.

Find out more at https://www.thehgfoundation.com/

About Generation France:

Generation is a global non-profit that supports adults to achieve economic mobility through employment.  We train, place, and support adults of all ages into careers that would otherwise be inaccessible. Launched in 2015, Generation comprises a global hub (Generation: You Employed, or GYE) and a network of in-country affiliates currently present in 17 countries. And across our global network, we offer 35 profession-specific programs to train and place adults into careers. To date, Generation has 115,000+ graduates who have together earned more than $1 billion in wages and work with 12,000+ employers.

Find out more at https://france.generation.org/