Cyril Ramaphosa unveils the YES initiative
Cyril Ramaphosa unveils the YES initiative
South Africa’s youngest generation of workers have a tough time finding jobs. But could Cyril Ramaphosa crack the code to lifting the gloom, with his plans for the Youth Employment Service?
Millions of our youngsters have struggled tirelessly to get employment after leaving the walls of education. The Presidency suggests that, for every 1 000 000 pupils who enter school, only 500 000 will go on to complete matric.
Ramaphosa has prioritised the youth unemployment crisis ahead of other issues South Africa faces. Today sees his proposals bear fruit, as he vowed to close the gap between “learning and earning”.
What is the Youth Employment Service?
The “YES” initiative is a collaboration between government and business to provide more jobs and apprenticeships for South Africa’s young workers.
The proposal sees businesses offer year-long paid learning courses – effectively “on-the-job” training – to help bring the next generation into a working environment and give them opportunities they would have struggled to get previously.
Those offering the apprenticeships are being rewarded with certain tax incentives. It’s very much a case of each party scratching the other one’s back, but the wheels need greasing to help tackle youth employment.
How many jobs could the Youth Employment Service create?
President Ramaphosa announced that 330,000 positions will be made available in South Africa this year. However, Cyril doesn’t want to stop there.
He’s suggesting that 500,000 positions could be a reality by 2019. Remember, this is an ongoing scheme that aims to produce more and more jobs per annum. So should the YES initiative be a success, SA could create half a million jobs every 12 months.
By providing one-year paid work experience opportunities to thousands of unemployed young people, these companies will not only be measurably improving their prospects to find employment, but will be helping to build a more inclusive, more sustainable economy.
— President Cyril Ramaphosa (@CyrilRamaphosa) March 27, 2018
How does the Youth Employment Service work?
- It’s a holistic approach. Ramaphosa is targeting an improved quality of basic education for younger children, to better prepare them for learning at school.
- More resources are being ploughed into TVET colleges, to help our students learn more technical skills that can go towards learning a trade.
- Private sector investment will be used to help provide more jobs for TVET graduates.
- The government will be introducing the Employment Tax Incentive: This will reduce the costs for businesses who choose to hire young workers.
- Public-private partnerships likes the Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator and The Gauteng Tshepo 1million initiative will now for part of the YES campaign.
- Unilever, Sasol, Investec, ABSA & Netcare have been named as some of the first 100 participants to provide jobs for the Youth Employment Service.
Cyril Ramaphosa springs into action
Since becoming President, Cyril Ramaphosa has made it clear that he wants to solve the youth unemployment crisis. He’s certainly stayed true to his word.
Although this has been a plan two years in the making, it would seem that his timing is impeccable. Businesses get something out of signing up for YES, and young workers get access to the jobs market. If Cyril is staying true on his promise to “unite” South Africa, then this seems like a good place to start.
