South African companies are being encouraged to play their part in the YES movement by employing young people. The YES initiative forms part of a broader plan to impart technical skills to young people and was officially launched last week. YES is an ambitious response to youth unemployment in the country and an important step in the right direction.
The programme urges businesses to create one-year paid positions for youth aged between 18 and 35 with a minimum paid stipend of R3,500 a month.
Companies that have come forward to provide work experience opportunities to the first 100 YES participants, include Unilever, Sasol, Investec, ABSA, and Netcare. The YES initiative is made possible through the commitment of the private sector, government, labour and other organisations.
If your company doesn’t have the capacity to host young people they can still contribute to the network in the following ways:
Sponsoring placement in a SME
Businesses which do not have the capacity to place more people in their organisations have the option of sponsoring the salary for a one-year placement in small and medium enterprises which lies closer to where the young person lives – allowing the larger company to qualify for B-BBEE recognition, while building SMME capacity and competitiveness.
Investing in youth-owned enterprises
Companies can also opt to help young people start and grow their own businesses through seed funding and developing youth-owned micro-enterprises that feed into their supply chain.
Training
Placing youth into an external service provider for training and work experience.
Skills development
Providing youth with skills development and training programmes.
For more information : Get Involved
