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Continental Tyre joined the Youth Employment Service (YES) in 2019 to help provide learning and employment opportunities for young people


Sipho Xhego

PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa, 20 July 2020 – Unemployment is one the biggest crises faced by South Africans today, and the youth are particularly hard hit due to a lack of suitable qualifications, skills or work experience which hamper their ability to secure employment.

To address this issue, the Youth Employment Service (YES) programme was created in 2018, and is led by business in collaboration with government, labour and civil society to provide work experience in an effort to stimulate employment for the youth of South Africa.

“Continental Tyre South Africa (CTSA) joined the YES programme in 2019 to assist unemployed youth based in Port Elizabeth where our tyre manufacturing plant is situated,” says Genevieve Naidoo, CTSA’s Transformation and Diversity director. “As one of the city’s key original equipment and aftermarket manufacturers in the automotive sector, we have a corporate responsibility to support government initiatives aimed at creating jobs and contributing to our economy.

“The YES initiative is a fantastic way of providing young people with learning and employment opportunities, which creates a pool of talent for potential employment at Continental or within the broader economy,” she adds.

The company selects learners from the YES database and pays a stipend towards their income and resources required for learning. The candidates can be hosted by the company or placed with an alternate employer who provides valuable work experience. The timeframe for the programme is normally one year, after which the learner receives a certificate of completion and an employment reference.

“At Continental, we have opted to further train our YES learners on additional life and entrepreneurial skills within various aspects of business to support their efforts in finding jobs and being absorbed into the workforce,” Naidoo says.

Assistance in putting together a CV is also given to the learners during their training, and CTSA’s Human Resources department supports the project by helping the graduates to find temporary or permanent employment at the end of the cycle. Some of these learners may be offered job opportunities at Continental Tyre SA, but all of them exit the programme with marketable skills and a much greater prospect of finding gainful employment.

“In these uncertain and tumultuous times where there is so much unemployment and a shortage of essential skills, we are proud to be part of the solution by empowering the youth for a better future,” Naidoo states.

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.