Cape Town’s mayoral committee member for economic opportunities and asset management, alderman James Vos, is calling on the city’s businesses to join its Jobs Connect work placement platform.
This as Statistics SA data shows a continuing rise in the country’s unemployment rate, which is now 32.6% − its highest level in over a decade.
Unveiled in April, Jobs Connect is the city’s work placement initiative. It aims to connect businesses, particularly SMEs and corporates, to the appropriate talent, and provide work and training opportunities to job-seekers across the city. It was developed in partnership with Leelyn Management.
So far, the workforce platform has assisted over 30 000 unemployed residents with assessments and provided 11 644 training opportunities, with 4 050 placed in jobs, according to the city.
Vos highlights that the biggest hindrances to small business growth – both locally and abroad – is a lack of skilled persons to staff the organisation.
“Small businesses are the backbone of employment and innovation in South Africa, so it’s imperative that we, as local government, provide whatever support structures we can. Therefore, the city has invested in multiple programmes and initiatives such as Jobs Connect that will foster growth for Cape Town-based businesses.
“In South Africa, the most sought-after skills include those within the IT, warehousing and logistics, administration, and manufacturing and assembly sectors. As such, job-seekers will also be able to access courses that will make them ideal candidates for these sectors.”
For training purposes, Capetonians can do a number of short courses that include work readiness training, problem-solving, time management, team building, customer care, web design and project management.
Registered users will be able to participate in longer-term courses such as business management, business leadership, business and entrepreneurship studies, and cloud practitioners.
Business owners can register their details on the Jobs Connect database by contacting Leelyn Management at info@leelyn.co.za or 021 558 1552.
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