Did you know there are more than 110,000 “opportunity youths” in the metro Atlanta area alone?

Did you know there was such a group at all? Do you know what that means?

I didn’t until I attended a workforce development conference and sat in on a presentation by a University of Georgia presenter from its Carl Vinson Institute of Government.

Opportunity youth are those aged 16-24 who are neither in school nor working. These are, in many ways, the single most important demographic for those in workforce development.

Well, the good news is some of the biggest names in corporate America want to help through the 100,000 Opportunities Initiative. 

This initiative is a coalition of more than 50 U.S. companies including FedEx, HMSHost, Starbucks, Yum! Brands, Walmart, and more. It has picked Atlanta for its next Opportunity Hiring Fair on May 3 at the Georgia World Congress Center to connect thousands of youth to jobs.

This event will include on-site interviews as well as resume writing tips, mentoring opportunities, and more.

The Atlanta event will be the latest iteration of what has already been a very successful concept. Last September in Washington D.C. the 100,000 Opportunities hiring event led to more than 1,000 job offers being handed out.

Registration for the Atlanta event is TBD, but is expected to open 4 weeks before the event. Don’t worry, though. We’ll make sure to update Georgia@Work readers about all of the important timelines.

Why is registration so important? Registering ahead of time will let you schedule specific interviews, which enables you to build out a schedule. Want to interview with Starbucks at 10:00 and FedEx at 11:00? Make sure you register early so those times are open.

If you want to get a flavor of what this event will feel like, check out the video below. It shows you how others have used the event and what it will feel like when in attendance.