Engineering News reports that Volkswagen Group South Africa (VWSA) has created work opportunities for 560 unemployed youth through the Youth Employment Service (YES) programme, the company indicated in a statement on Tuesday.  

The group began a 12-month employment period with VWSA on 1 March.  The group will be placed across the country and in different business areas such as VWSA’s National Sales Organisation, in Gauteng, and in technical areas in the manufacturing plant, in Uitenhage, in the Eastern Cape, which has employed 70 people.  The VWSA dealership network has also taken in 230 people, while YES small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) host partners taking are 260 people.  YES, which was recently launched by President Cyril Ramaphosa, is a business-led collaborative programme, the aim of which is to enable young people (black youth between the ages of 18 to 35) without formal qualifications to get work and internship opportunities for a 12-month period, with the ultimate aim of improving their chances of gaining long-term quality employment.  VWSA will pay the salaries of each of the candidates and each candidate will receive work readiness training that will assist in preparing and guiding them through their work experience.

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