Mercy ANURIKA
CareerBox, a leading African impact sourcing non-profit organization (NPO), has announced the launch of a satellite branch in Cape Town, as part of efforts to alleviate unemployment among youth and women from disadvantaged communities by training and placing them in sustainable, digitally-enabled jobs in the Global Business Services (GBS) sector. “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. CareerBox has built a strong presence and track record of success in Durban, and we are looking to replicate this in Cape Town,” says Lizelle Strydom, MD of CareerBox.
CareerBox supports the creation of jobs across Africa through the GBS industry – which services international clients and brings in foreign revenue – and has already received a request from a corporate partner to identify, train and place a number of youth and women in digitally-enabled jobs. Strydom points out that while her organization has a firm focus on identifying and developing disadvantaged yet inspiring and talented young people, sustainability of their jobs is critical, and the renewed interest by investors to rebuild the city as a major contact center hub – which will open up numerous job opportunities – played a key role in the decision to open the satellite branch.
“Furthermore, 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,” says Strydom.
Impact sourcing is a business practice where organizations 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 both themselves and the communities that they come from. A growing number of corporates and even governments are making impact sourcing a requirement for doing business with them. According to Strydom, GBS providers should take a closer look at their recruitment policies, with a view to increasing their adoption of impact sourcing. Not only are the costs similar to traditional recruitment methods, but global studies have shown that 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 also help bring down salary inflation that has been driven by poaching limited resources,” says Strydom. The satellite branch, which will open in May, is located at 10 Brodie Road, Wynberg. 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 NSFAS offices.
CareerBox Cape Town will offer the full breadth of its accredited and non-accredited programs, including the popular demand-led Work Readiness Training program, which equips youth for entry level jobs in the local GBS sector. The branch aims to restore hope among local disadvantaged communities by building awareness of the career opportunities available within the sector, even if they lack formal qualifications or job experience at first. “While the office is not yet open, youth and women from around Cape Town can still contact our head office on (031) 286 1601, email us at info@careerbox.co.za or visit our website (https://bit.ly/37QjHa5) to express their interest in applying for the available positions. They can leave their details with us so that we can contact them when the office is open and recruitment gets fully underway,” adds Strydom.
CareerBox is a training, skills development and recruitment organization that has since 2013 focused on empowering and improving the lives of young people and women through job creation, education and skills development. The organization has trained over 35 000 people in the last eight years, resulting in a vast majority being placed in sustainable jobs.
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