Shoprite Group Recognised For Transformative Youth Employment Initiatives At ESG Awards
Shoprite Group Recognised For Transformative Youth Employment Initiatives At ESG Awards. South Africa’s largest private sector employer, the Shoprite Group, has been honoured for its outstanding contribution to the ‘Social’ component of ESG at the Youth Employment Service (YES)’s inaugural Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) Awards this week.
The YES programme is a business-driven initiative in partnership with government and labour to build economic pathways for black youth to reduce unemployment.Since inception of the partnership in November 2018, the Group has created 9 454 youth opportunities through the YES programme.
Participants receive 12 months on-the-job training with exposure to various facets of the retail industry. On completion of the programme, successful YES learners are skilled to work in retail or to initiate their own entrepreneurial journeys. “With youth unemployment at a staggering 63.9%, the Group’s talent attraction and development strategy places a strong focus on offering early careers to youth interested in pursuing a career in retail.” Leigh Adams, Head: Group Talent & Learning Solutions.
The Group’s own Retail Readiness Programme is understood to be the largest and most successful skills development initiative undertaken by a South African retailer. The seven-week programme equips unemployed youth with the basic skills required to work in a retail environment or to start their own business. Successful participants receive NQF-level 3 qualifications.
The Shoprite Group is the largest retailer in Africa, known for its iconic supermarket brands Shoprite, Checkers and Usave. Starting with just eight stores and 400 employees in 1979, the business is now the continent’s industry leader by market capitalisation, sales, profit and number of employees and customers. The Group’s core business is food retailing, complemented by value-added retail services and offering across a range of industries including technology, financial, pharmaceutical, furniture, telecommunication as well as ticketing businesses.
