OREANDA-NEWS. October 12, 2016. FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) signed on as a founding member of the ‘First Job Recruiting and Hiring Compact.’ This compact is President Obama’s call to action for communities and businesses to help connect out-of-school, out-of-work youth and young adults ages 16 to 24 to their first jobs.

“FedEx is working to close the skills gap, and to create pathways to meaningful employment and economic opportunity. There are many pathways to success and that is why our support focuses on education, job training and access to employment,” said Judy Edge, FedEx Corporate Vice President of Human Resources.

The U.S. unemployment rate is 5% but over 15% for people aged 16–24 (U.S. BLS). One-third of the U.S. unemployment rate is due to the gap between skills and open jobs, and employers increasingly report difficulty filling middle skill jobs. Many individuals struggle to gain the skills and career connections to access available jobs and get on a pathway to economic mobility.

Employment Pathways is the FedEx commitment to creating pathways to meaningful employment and economic opportunity for underserved populations.

“We are excited to join the First Job Recruiting and Hiring Compact, and even more excited to further our commitment to helping people access employment,” added Edge.

FedEx plans to add more than 50,000 seasonal positions leading up to this holiday season – positions that have served as the first job for many of the more than 400,000 global FedEx team members. FedEx peak seasonal workers help the company maintain outstanding service during the holidays. FedEx operating companies regularly offer the opportunity for seasonal workers to stay on throughout the year.