To bolster Cape Town’s thriving call centre industry, also known as the global business services (GBS) sector, CareerBox plans to open a new branch in the city.
CareerBox offers free training and skills development to unemployed young adults who wish to enter the GBS and contact centre industry.
The branch, which will officially open in May, will be located at 10 Brodie Road, Wynberg. It aims to upskill youth and women from disadvantaged communities by training and placing them in sustainable, digitally-enabled jobs in the GBS sector, says CareerBox.
“With president Cyril Ramaphosa calling for a new post-COVID economy where the GBS sector will drive growth, there has been a growth interest in Cape Town from international investors, and CareerBox is looking to build on this,” says Lizelle Strydom, MD of CareerBox.
“CareerBox has built a strong presence and track record of success in Durban, and we are looking to replicate this in Cape Town.”
The GBS/BPO industry is targeting 500 000 new jobs by 2030, based on industry estimates.
International clients have shown considerable interest in the country’s BPO sector, setting up operations in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town. This week, outsourcing specialist Sigmalaunched its GBS operation in Cape Town’s Mitchells Plain township.
Furthermore, the City of Cape Town has earmarked the GBS sector as a priority industry for employment creation.
CareerBox says its purpose is to support the creation of jobs across the African continent through the GBS industry. It has already received a request from a corporate partner to identify, train and place a number of youth and women in digitally-enabled jobs.
While her organisation has a firm focus on identifying and developing disadvantaged, yet inspiring and talented young people, Strydom points out that sustainability of their jobs is critical.
She adds the renewed interest by investors to rebuild Cape Town as a major contact centre hub − which will create numerous job opportunities − played a key role in the decision to open the new branch.
“Those from disadvantaged communities, especially women and youth around Cape Town, face the same challenges of poverty, high unemployment and high barriers to entry.
“CareerBox aims to work with corporate partners to take advantage of the increased appetite in the local GBS sector and use impact sourcing to uplift communities through improved access to digitally-enabled entry-level jobs.”
According to Strydom, impact sourcing is a business practice where organisations look toward previously-disadvantaged communities to identify and develop high-potential talent, and then place them in jobs that provide them with a sustainable income and pathway to social upliftment for themselves and the communities they come from.
A growing number of corporates and even governments are making impact sourcing a requirement for doing business with them, she notes.
GBS providers should take a closer look at their recruitment policies, with a view to increasing their adoption of impact sourcing, Strydom advises. Not only are the costs similar to traditional recruitment methods, but global studies have shown beneficiaries of impact sourcing are just as productive, are more motivated and less likely to leave.
“CareerBox wants to work with partners to build a new pool of talent for the Cape-based GBS sector by identifying and developing talented youth and women from disadvantaged local communities who have not had access to opportunities before. In addition to reducing attrition, taking this approach can help bring down salary inflation that has been driven by poaching limited resources.”
The company notes the placement of the branch, which will accept walk-ins when open, was carefully chosen; it is located a single taxi ride away from many disadvantaged communities, while local youth are familiar with the location, as it used to be the former National Student Financial Aid Scheme office.
CareerBox Cape Town will offer its accredited and non-accredited programmes, including the demand-led work readiness training programme, which equips youth for entry-level jobs in the local GBS sector.
Although the office is not yet open, Strydom urges youth and women from around Cape Town to contact the CareerBox head office on 031 286 1601, by e-mail at info@careerbox.co.za, or by visiting the website to express their interest in applying for available positions.
“They can leave their details with us so that we can contact them when the office is open and recruitment gets fully under way.”
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