According to the Founder of Trusted Interns, Jaryd Raizon “Unemployed youth in South Africa are often disqualified from entering the workforce because they don’t have the tools needed to access job opportunities thus to begin combating this problem, Trusted Interns has partnered with Uber to help young South Africans who don’t have transport money to go interviews.
The Cape Town-based start-up helps unemployed youth to get their first jobs by making career opportunities more accessible. He said they would arrange interviews with employers but graduates were not showing up. “We knew our community was committed and so something had to be wrong,” said Raizon.
They circulated a survey where they asked community members if they’d ever missed an interview because they couldn’t afford transport and 77% of the responses were “yes”. They will be giving first-time job-seekers the opportunity to apply for free Uber vouchers so they can get to interviews. “Employers think that I don’t take them seriously but transport money is a real issue. I’ve missed many interviews because I couldn’t go there” said Nokuthula, Gauteng.
Uber donated R10 000 in free rides to get youth to and from interviews and will match a further R10 000 of public donations. “The youth have a vital role to play in our society and it is important to make them aware there are infinite possibilities available to them,” added Alon Lits, Uber Sub-Saharan Africa GM. He says the partnership will not only have a positive impact on the youth but also on those employers looking for talent, who now have access to undiscovered.
