Telkom’s first Youth Employment Service (Yes) programme is giving 499 young South Africans an opportunity to break into the workforce, learn future-fit skills in the ever-growing ICT sector, and in so doing, contribute to their communities.
Telkom has opted to place youth externally through the YES turnkey solution as a way to capacitate NGOs working in the digital space all over South Africa.
The turnkey solution allows companies to sponsor the placement of unemployed youth for 12 months in vetted implementation partners (generally NGOs or SMMEs working in high-impact sectors). Because youth are placed within their own communities, they do not have to travel far for work, and can rather contribute to building their hometowns’ economies.
Telkom’s job creation footprint through the programme is prevalent in Gauteng, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo. The youth were placed with Yes implementation partners operating in positions that offer crucial in-demand skills such as data capturers, cyber security agents, digital artisans, content creators and software developers. This offers them a year of work and upskilling while earning a salary.
The five implementation partners hosting the Telkom youth are:
The Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative – South Africa’s oldest tech incubator – which promotes the inclusive growth of the digital economy.
The National Financial Literacy Association, which provides ongoing consumer financial education using various platforms.
Reconstructed Living Lab, a non-profit which provides empowerment through hope, technology, innovation, training and economic opportunities.
Youth Content Collective (YCC), where talented black content creators are connected with business.
Youth@Work, where unemployed young people are given work experiences in non-traditional worksites
“The ICT sector desperately needs more skilled workers. Telkom’s partnership with YEs will contribute to building an equipped workforce in South Africa, and indeed the rest of Africa, that will have the right skills to deal with the growing ICT demands of the world,” concludes Yes CEO, Ravi Naidoo.
