As governments and corporates around the world implement measures to prevent unemployment and poverty resulting from coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdowns, Cell C has made R2 million available for job creation, via gig economy company M4JAM (Money for Jam).
SA’s lockdown, which has been extended by two weeks, is expected to result in a greater blow to the country’s already fragile economy, as many businesses halt operations.
Mobile operator Cell C has invested R2 million to help people earn money via micro-jobbing platform M4JAM, with which it has had a partnership since last year.
Established in 2014, M4JAM connects local brands with an on-demand workforce (called jobbers), providing them with mobile-based training to easily manage tasks and track results in real-time.
In its COVID-19 jobber support project, Cell C will provide three-week incentivised training for jobbers to complete in the comfort of their own homes via their mobile devices.
The curriculum provided is intended to further upskill the Cell C jobbers to provide income during lockdown and make jobbers more marketable as gig economy participants once lockdown is lifted, according to M4JAM.
The three-week curriculum consists of 48 micro-lessons on COVID-19 topics, Cell C product-related topics, general training on being successful as a regular jobber and better data collection while in the field.
Jobbers will be paid on successful completion of micro-lessons, with payments disbursed evenly over the three weeks of the curriculum into their M4JAM wallet.
M4JAM CEO Georgie Midgley says Cell C’s contribution will go a long way as M4JAM has removed all location-based jobs from the platform, in support of government’s bid to curb the spread of COVID-19.
“M4JAM is very grateful to Cell C for their contribution and we are calling on other South African corporates to replicate this example. It will impact livelihoods during lockdown and further the country’s skills development goals to help boost the economy once lockdown is over,” notes Midgley.
The micro-jobbing site has 320 000 registered jobbers and over 25 clients, consisting of telcos, consumer goods producers and mining firms, among others, who pay for services conducted by jobbers.
Each jobber will receive a digital certificate of completion at the end of the training and this will be added to the jobbers’ digital CVs.
The project is scheduled to run over three weeks and the average pay-out per jobber is estimated to be R310 per week.
In late 2019, the telco worked with M4JAM on a project called the Cell C Spaza 5 000 pilot project, aimed at understanding the dynamics of the informal telecommunications retail market.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is having a devastating impact on people’s livelihoods in the informal sector,” says Douglas Craigie Stevenson, CEO of Cell C.
“Cell C wanted to make a direct difference and has provided funding that will pay users or jobbers to complete training tasks from the safety of their homes and all via mobile devices during the lockdown.”
Before the lockdown, the two companies had said the Spaza 5 000 pilot project will create 230 000 jobs this year.
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