SAP NZ intends to invest NZD $50,000 in Foundation for Youth Development (FYD) as part of an effort to bolster interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects among young people.
According to the company, the investment will remain open-ended and be reviewed annually.
FYD aims to inspire all school-age New Zealand children to reach their full potential through programmes. SAP will focus its investment in FYD’s Career Navigator, a work-readiness programme designed to support secondary school students in their decision-making around future employment.
“On the whole, employment is strong in New Zealand, but we need to pay very close attention to our youth to ensure the next generation of New Zealanders have the same level of employment opportunity as the current workforce,” said Marion Short, CEO of FYD.
“With support from organisations like SAP, we are exposing more young students more frequently to the array of industries and professions New Zealand has to offer, thereby helping them make more informed decisions about their further education and employment goals,” she added.
“SAP works with hundreds of thousands of customers across the globe,” said Graeme Riley, MD at SAP NZ. “We see the need that these organisations have for STEM and ICT skills on a daily basis. In partnership with Foundation for Youth Development, we hope to inform more of New Zealand’s future talent about the opportunities in these fields and secure a stronger outlook for them as individuals and a better outlook for New Zealand’s job market collectively.”
The announcement was made at the opening of SAP’s new offices in Wellington, which represent an incremental investment of $10 million over five years to accommodate new staff and a growing business. The company intends to grow its New Zealand employee base by 19 (around 20 per cent) by 2017. The company stated that its sales had grown by 31 per cent in 2013 across its traditional business, as well its cloud, mobile and big data portfolio.