SA says YES to youth work experience

The Youth Employment Service will prepare young people for employment

South African youth are set to benefit from an initiative that aims to create over one million paid work opportunities over the next three years.

The Youth Employment Service (YES) that was recently launched by President Cyril Ramaphosa intends to prepare young people for employment and provide them with the technical skills needed to underpin the industrialisation of the economy.

“We see this initiative as one pillar of a broad and comprehensive national effort to create opportunities for young people. Another central pillar must be the development of the skills and capabilities of young people,” said President Ramaphosa.

The initiative is a collaboration between government, labour and business.

Research undertaken by stakeholders indicates that one year of work experience on a CV and a letter of reference increases a young

person’s chance of finding employment threefold.

At the launch, President Ramaphosa was introduced to the first 100 youth, who will be employed by ABSA, Investec, Netcare, Sasol and Unilever through the YES programme.

Akani Mbondzisa, 26, a beneficiary of the initiative from Somerset in Mpumalanga, said he was particularly excited as he wants a job to support his daughter.

“I was unemployed for a year and whenever I applied for a job they said they wanted one year’s experience. Once I get experience, I will be able to work and support my daughter,” he said.

According to YES CEO Tashmia Ismail-Saville, out of 15.5 million people in South Africa aged between 18 and 34, 5.8 million are unemployed.

The YES programme particularly aims to create opportunities for those who lack the necessary skills required for formal employment.

“YES aims to give that portion of our youth, which are largely overlooked by the country’s current employment models, a crucial first chance to gain a decent quality, paid work experience. Youth will not be excluded based on academic ability or the skills they may or may not possess,” said Ismail-Saville.

He called on small businesses to play their part as they have a huge employment base. “Large businesses alone cannot absorb sufficient youth. Over two-thirds of South Africa’s employment base consists of medium companies and smaller, making it critical that small businesses are involved,” said Ismail-Saville.

As an additional incentive for small businesses, those which employ black youth, between the ages of 18 and 29, will be eligible for the Employment Tax Incentive which is equivalent to R1 000 per month.

Businesses will also qualify for a new Youth Employment BroadBased Black Economic Empowerment initiative, which will be gazetted shortly.

Prior to joining the programme, businesses that sign up to YES will be screened to ensure that their proposed work experiences are good quality and that the youth will gain the relevant skills they need.

Youth who wish to take part in the programme will sign a contract committing to it and must comply with various requirements.

YES youth must be:

• Between 18- and 34-years-old.

• Unemployed for more than six months.

• Black people (African, Coloured or Indian).

Should companies wish to claim the Employment Tax Incentive, the youth must be between the ages of 18 and 29.

The salary is expected to be set at the national minimum wage of R3 500 per month, which includes associated training and support. The average cost per annum is

R55 000.