The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has partnered with the Youth Employment Service (YES) to prepare young people for employment by providing them with technical skills and relevant work opportunities.
The CSIR and YES recently signed a Sponsored Host Placement Agreement, which will see the two parties working closely together to address the pressing issue of equipping young South Africans with the skills needed for the workplace.
The YES initiative, which is a business-led collaboration with government and labour to create job opportunities for youth, was launched by President Cyril Ramaphosa in March 2018.
The initiative aims to combat youth unemployment.
YES and the CSIR believe that the collaboration will also accelerate South Africa's transition to a knowledge-based economy.
The partnership, which will run for one year, will see the creation of 66 job opportunities by the CSIR for youth.
"It is in the CSIR's best interest that we invest in the development of the youth in our society. Unfortunately, South Africa has a very high level of unemployed youth, which does not bode well for the future of our country.
“Young people are the future. Therefore, we need to ensure that they are given opportunities to make a meaningful contribution to society and commerce,” said the CSIR Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr Thulani Dlamini.
The partnership with YES is in addition to the CSIR’s human capital development initiatives.
Some of the youth will be based at the CSIR and some will be hosted through Youth@Work, a vetted YES implementation partner, and will be employed in various roles.
This includes roles as mathematics and science teaching assistants; IT assistants in digital learning laboratories; computer coding facilitators, and digital learning facilitators at schools and municipal institutions, such as local libraries.
"What is particularly exciting about these jobs is that they dovetail perfectly with our goal of preparing South Africa for the fourth industrial revolution.
"We appreciate the CSIR being the first major State-owned enterprise (SOE) to take the leap and commit to YES, and we look forward to engaging other SOEs and helping to create the jobs of tomorrow," said YES CEO Dr Tashmia Ismail-Saville.
YES generated over R1.4 billion in youth salaries across 35 000 jobs in its first year of operation.
The not-for-profit organisation, which has no government funding, has been supported by over 1 010 businesses since inception.
"It is a real privilege to be able to assist another group of young South Africans as they enter the workforce, especially in these uncertain times. We look forward to sharing the stories of change and impact over the next 12 months," said Erica Kempken from Youth@Work. – SAnews.gov.za
