JSE-listed EOH is continuing with its training programme in a bid to make more youth employable, and is urging its clients and technology partners to implement similar initiatives.
The first year of training, which started about a year ago, is set to wrap up at the end of the first quarter of next year. It saw 620 young people being given either internships, or learnerships within the company, depending on whether they were school-leavers or graduates.
CEO Asher Bohbot expects to employ around 80% of the young people within EOH, while the balance could find positions within its clients. The training provided has spanned aspects such as human resources, accounting and EOH's core IT operations.
Bohbot says the company intends running another programme once this one has been completed, but has not yet finalised numbers. School-leavers are given a combination of on-the-job and classroom training, while the graduates will take up internships.
Dire need
The unemployment situation for young people in SA is "getting worse and worse", says Bohbot. He says the company ran a workshop in October, in Johannesburg, to encourage its clients and partners to also launch programmes.
According to the latest figures from Statistics SA, about a third of youth aged between 15 and 24 were not employed, or in education or training programmes in the third quarter of this year.
Bohbot says the group will run more workshops in February, in Cape Town and Durban, in a bid to aid its partners in launching similar initiatives. EOH's own programme has gone better than the company expected, he adds.
EOH spent between R10 million and R15 million on the first programme, but expects to receive the investment back over the long-term, says Bohbot. He says skilling young people provides them with a life instead of them sitting on a dusty road in a township.
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