Alcoa bolsters manufacturing sector with internship programme

American aluminium giant Alcoa’s corporate foundation has instigated a $1.25m internship programme for 500 students in eight countries over the next two years.

The programme is a community-wide initiative involving several manufacturing companies and will be managed by the Institute of International Education (IIE). The goal is to provide unemployed youth with the experience to start a successful career in manufacturing.

“To educate and train young people well is fundamental for allowing them to create their own future. This is critically important for the individual as much as it strengthens the communities they live in. We are proud to work with our nonprofit partners around the world in bringing these opportunities to our Alcoa locations and offer attractive options for the youth to explore careers in manufacturing and engineering,” commented Klaus Kleinfeld, Alcoa’s chairman and ceo.

Alcoa leadership in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Jamaica, Spain, United Kingdom and the United States will select nonprofit organizations with job readiness programs to financially support, that will place students in internships with local manufacturers.

“This programme will provide student interns with valuable hands-on learning experience and teach the skills necessary for a career in advanced manufacturing,” said Tricia Napor, vice president, Alcoa Foundation. “In addition, local nonprofits will work with Alcoa locations to arrange volunteers to mentor interns, share manufacturing expertise, and host locations visits for all interns in the program.”

Each nonprofit will receive on average $125,000 to deploy a paid-internship programme in the community.