President Ramaphosa to launch Youth Employment Service

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“The YES initiative aims to see more than one million young South Africans being offered paid work experience over the next three years, as part of placing the needs of and opportunities for young people at the centre of inclusive economic growth,” said the Presidency.

The launch is set to take place at the Riverside Incubation Hub in Fourways, Johannesburg.

Led by the President, the YES initiative is a collaborative effort between government, business, labour and civil society.

According to the Presidency, the initiative is informed by research, which has shown that one year of work experience, coupled with a CV and reference letter, increases a young person’s chances of finding employment by three times.

The programme has three channels through which employment opportunities can occur:

• Corporate work experiences: businesses that participate in the programme create one-year paid positions for youth aged between 18 and 35, in addition to these organisations’ current employment numbers, YES is an additive;

• SMME host placements: businesses that do not have the capacity to place more people in their organisations, have the option of sponsoring the salary for a one-year placement in small and medium enterprises (in year one for 7 to 10 months); and

• SMME development: young people are empowered to start and grow their own businesses, with support from YES in the form of training, seed funding and value-chain integration.