12 Nov 2021 – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced an extension to its support agreement with The Adecco Group, the world’s leading talent solutions company, to help strengthen its support for athletes through Athlete365 Career+.

The agreement ensures that athletes around the world will receive even greater support and assistance as they transition into life after sport.

“The extension of our agreement underlines our commitment to supporting athletes at every stage of their lives,” said IOC Athletes’ Commission Chair  Emma Terho. “Transitioning into a new career can be a challenging moment, and we are proud that Athlete365 Career+ has already supported thousands of athletes to successfully navigate this challenge. We are grateful that The Adecco Group will continue to make its resources available to athletes as they transition from competing on the field of play to competing in the labour market.”

The IOC and The Adecco Group began working together in 2005 on what was then known as the IOC Athlete Career Programme. Since then, the programme, now known as Athlete365 Career+, has provided career development resources and training to more than 50,000 athletes, helping them to maximise their employment opportunities.

“At The Adecco Group, we believe in the power of sport and athlete-talent potential,” said Mr Alain Dehaze, CEO The Adecco Group. “For over 16 years, we have worked with the IOC to support athlete careers beyond sport. This support agreement meets with our purpose – to make the future work for everyone. In the next four years, we will be powering Athlete365 Career+ through talent solutions, expertise, and online resources. Our goal is to increase our reach and impact on the athlete community, helping athletes design their next career; positioning them as an unbeatable talent in the broader labour market.”

The new agreement focuses on supporting the IOC in the development, management, implementation and coordination of IOC Athlete365 Career+. It also invests into powering Athlete365 Career+ through a blended offering based on three core pillars.

The first pillar focuses on athlete career transition solutions. Aiming to support athletes’ career development, online resources will be provided via an Athlete Career Portal accessible from Athlete365, including a bespoke Athlete Attributes Assessment tool to help athletes understand and further build their unique skillset and hidden attributes.

Through this pillar, the agreement will also offer the possibility of training to interested NOCs on matters such as career coaching and empowering administrative staff to better support athletes in designing their next career.

The second pillar focuses on the provision of expertise and promotion. This support will be in the form of research and thought leadership to position athlete talent into the labour market.

The third pillar of the programme will seek to strengthen the athlete employer initiative, working inside and outside the sports industry to build a global network of athlete employers.

These arrangements will seek to further develop educational tools and curricula such as the Power Up workshops.

IOC Athletes’ Commission Vice-Chair and Chair of the Athlete365 Career+ Steering Committee Seung-min Ryu added: “Transitioning to a new career after sport brings new challenges, but it does not have to promote fear if you are prepared. Through Athlete365 Career+, we strive to be a leader in the career transition for athletes in the fact that we are there for support and solidarity while empowering athletes to carry the beneficial skills learned on the field, throughout their lifelong journey.”

Athlete365 Career+ has developed significantly over its many years of delivery. In the last five years, the Olympic Solidarity Athlete Career Transition programme has made funding available to 58 NOCs to organise Outreach workshops for their athletes to equip them with skills around self-knowledge and career exploration. In 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, these workshops pivoted to global digital delivery, resulting in Power Up online workshops having been delivered in six languages to over 1,000 participants from all around the world. In total, over 13,000 athletes have attended in-person or online outreach workshops since 2007.