Building a resilient, future-ready workforce is central to our Value Plan 2030+. Human capital is the foundation of long-term value creation and underpins our ability to manage and strengthen all other forms of capital. Investing in talent and capabilities is therefore a strategic imperative for business continuity, adaptability, and sustainable growth.
In Europe, this ambition comes to life through our Early Program, designed not only to develop young talent, but to help them contribute to the business in meaningful ways from the start.
A unified approach to building future leaders
In Europe, our early career initiatives are brought together under one unified program designed to attract, develop, and accelerate talent across markets in a consistent and scalable way. Beyond program design, it enables a more deliberate approach to developing talent with the skills, exposure, and mindset needed to support long-term business success.
Our European Early Career Program spans three complementary pathways:
Internships: Offers 3- to 12-month experiences for external early-career talent.
Graduates: A rotational pathway bringing together a blended cohort of internal employees and external hires.
Future Leaders: An accelerated leadership pathway for high-potential internal employees and external hires—creating a clear value proposition for candidates and a strong pipeline for the business.
Across all three pathways, the program is built on shared principles: Recruitment grounded in potential learning agility and transferable skills, hands-on learning through business experience, and exposure to cross-functional and international environments.
The Graduates Program: Accelerating potential through experience
At the core of the Early Career Program is the Graduates Program, structured as a 24-month rotation across three business areas: Smoke-free business, corporate functions (finance, sustainability, legal, etc.), and commercial. The program brings together early career talent from across European markets into a shared, experience-led pathway.
As a first milestone of the Europe Graduates Program, we had the opportunity to take part in a truly enriching, real-world business experience. Addressing genuine business challenges by giving a voice to emerging talent clearly reflects PMI’s commitment to transforming the future. This exceptional hackathon immersed us in real PMI challenges, broadened our perspectives, and pushed us beyond our comfort zones—both in terms of expectations and our direct exposure to senior leadership. It is a strong testament to the trust placed in us and to PMI’s commitment to investing in and developing the leaders of tomorrow.
Quitterie Delort
Participant in European Graduate Scheme
Through rotations, international exposure, and a curriculum spanning business, technology, and social science, graduates build capabilities while contributing to the business from day one. This approach is already resonating strongly: The first recruitment campaign, launched in 2025, attracted around 9,000 applications, while the second campaign, running in 2026, has drawn around 20,000 applications—reflecting growing demand for development experiences that combine learning with tangible impact.
From exploring concepts to real-world problem solving
A defining moment for the first group of graduates was the program’s first regional hackathon, held over one week in early 2026, which brought together more than 40 graduates from across Europe to tackle significant business challenges linked to the organization’s strategic priorities.
This was highlighted by Massimo Andolina, President, Europe Region:
When emerging talent and senior leadership co-create, innovation becomes part of how we work—not an aspiration.
Working in diverse teams, graduates applied fresh thinking to complex topics—from strengthening brand relevance and loyalty, to exploring new models of value creation, and rethinking how responsible access to age-restricted products can be ensured.
Throughout the hackathon, graduates were supported by business tutors and targeted capability-building sessions, including critical thinking, storytelling, and the use of AI-enabled tools. Working across markets and functions, teams iterated rapidly—testing, refining, and strengthening their ideas in a way that reflects real-world innovation cycles. The experience culminated in presentations to the European Management Team, creating direct exposure to senior leadership and opening a dialogue on how ideas can translate into action.
Innovation powered by collaboration—rethinking youth access prevention
One of the most pressing challenges presented before the selected graduates in the first hackathon was focused on youth access prevention. With most of our products sold through indirect retail channels—where we do not have direct control—and amid evolving regulatory and societal expectations, ensuring that our products are accessed only by adult consumers increasingly requires innovative and scalable solutions.
The Europe Graduates Hackathon in Milano was one of the most impactful experiences of the program for me, as it brought a wave of energy and motivation across our graduate community that carried into our daily work. It was also a moment when I saw the collaborative PMI DNA come to life, both in the strong connections we built as graduates and in the way we engaged with the European Management Team to explore different angles of our ideas. Overall, it was an experience that pushed us to grow, connect, and think bigger—truly ‘better together.
Luisa Jarchow
Participant in European Graduate Scheme
Graduates were asked to step back from existing approaches and design next-generation solutions that could meaningfully reduce underage access, while remaining practical for retailers, respectful of consumer privacy, and aligned with regulatory expectations.
This required an end-to-end perspective—rethinking how age verification works in real-life settings, identifying friction points across the consumer and retailer experience, and exploring solutions that could scale across markets with different regulatory frameworks.
Turning hackathon proposals into piloted business outcomes
The impact of the hackathon extends beyond the event itself. Several of the concepts developed are now being explored further, with selected markets partnering with graduates to test and pilot solutions—bridging early talent development with tangible business outcomes. This model will continue to evolve, with another hackathon already planned for autumn 2026 across the broader Early Career Program, further embedding innovation as a core element of talent development.
Participating in the PMI Hackathon in Milan was a unique opportunity to work in a fast-paced, high-impact environment where ideas quickly evolved into tangible solutions. Collaborating with graduates from across Europe, we navigated complex business topics while refining our approach through feedback, adaptation, and teamwork. It was also a valuable learning experience, strengthening both our problem-solving and communication skills. It was a particularly rewarding experience that enhanced both our teamwork and our ability to communicate ideas with clarity and impact.
Max Roelen
Participant in European Graduate Scheme
Beyond individual solutions, the initiative is helping redefine how talent can contribute to the business. By giving graduates ownership of real challenges—such as rethinking youth access prevention—and exposure to leadership early in their careers, the program accelerates both capability development and confidence.
But the program is also reinforcing a broader shift, where innovation is not confined to experience or hierarchy, but can be driven by new perspectives when supported by the right environment. This reflects the working reality at PMI: Transformation is not a one-time milestone, but a continuous process of learning, adaptation, and reinvention. In that context, developing Europe’s emerging talent—rather than being separate from business transformation—is one of the ways change is put into motion across the organization, helping them to not only develop, but help shape the future.
Stories of Impact
Forging the future through collaborative upskilling and innovation in Italy
The Philip Morris Institute for Manufacturing Competencies (IMC) plays a vital role in helping develop advanced skills for future professions—particularly in innovation, digitalization, smart agriculture, and intelligent manufacturing.
Turning empty miles into revenue to drive more sustainable logistics
A PMI initiative in Türkiye has transformed the challenge of returning empty trucks into a model of collaboration and sustainability.
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Soil restoration: Fostering farming resilience and sustainable supply chains in Malawi
How PMI is empowering Malawian farmers through innovative soil management and collaborative pilot programs for improved crop yields and climate resilience.