A private-sector led initiative is offering close to 200 South African graduates a bridge to full-time employment.
The project is a joint venture between Youth Employment Services (YES) and long-time supporters Absa and BMW Group South Africa, as well as an unnamed international donor.
Engineering News reports that BMW will provide 12 months of paid, full-time work experience to 172 graduates, Absa is offering historical debt relief for qualifying graduates, and the international donor will provide top-up salary support.
‘By placing these graduates into strategically relevant sectors, specifically in high-impact and future-facing roles, we are creating a multiplier effect where one job can create ten more,’ said YES CEO Ravi Naidoo.
‘We are contributing to a generation of South Africans who are work-ready, digitally capable and equipped to propel our economy forward. This is what responsible business looks like in practice,’ said BMW SA transformation and corporate investment head Valencia Modiba.
Absa’s managing executive of corporate citizenship, Setlogane Manchidi, said the bank’s debt relief intervention will help to remove one of the biggest hurdles facing new graduates looking to start a new career.
Throughout its almost decade-long association with the YES programme, Absa has granted debt relief totalling about R60 million to more than 800 graduates.
Since 2022, BMW SA has has provided more than 4 300 work experiences via YES.
According to YES, it has provided 233 244 full-time 12-month jobs since its inception in 2018 and invested ZAR14 43 billion in youth salaries.
The new strategic partnership comes as South African youth unemployment stands 60.9% for those aged 15–24 and 40.6% for those aged 25–34, according to Stats SA.
