The Youth Employment Service (YES) programme is a flagship national initiative designed to confront South Africa’s severe youth unemployment crisis. In the standard Youth Employment Service (YES) model, the primary benefit exchange is between the corporate sponsor and the unemployed youth. The corporate benefits by improving the corporate’s BEE level score by one, one-and-a-half or two levels on the BEE scorecard, while the youth benefit by gaining a 12-month quality work experience and a YES-certified CV, enhancing their future employability.
In contrast, Inyosi’s model introduces a strategic third element: the Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD) beneficiaries. Inyosi allocates its employed youth to work within these ESD Beneficiary companies. This unique approach means the youth’s employment directly supports the growth and operational capacity of the ESD Beneficiary businesses. Ultimately, this support increases the overall profitability of the beneficiary companies, which in turn reduces the overall portfolio risk for Inyosi’s corporate investors, as these stronger businesses are better positioned to repay any loans or investment.
While unemployment is a global crisis; fuelled by economic stagnation and rapid technological shifts, the situation for young people in South Africa is particularly acute. The expanded youth unemployment rate (ages 15 to 34) often exceeds 45%, ranking among the highest in the world.
The crisis is overlaid by the following unique, localised structural circumstances: decades of apartheid and poor spatial planning isolate poor, less-skilled youth in areas far from economic centres; a severe gap exists between the output of the education system and the skills demanded by the capital-intensive economy; and a pervasive lack of prior work experience among young job seekers is a critical barrier, trapping millions in a cyclical exclusion. Even a high number of unemployed graduates cannot secure work, demonstrating that a qualification alone is often insufficient against a backdrop of slow economic growth and structural market rigidity.
This toxic combination forces millions into the category of “discouraged work-seekers,” posing a serious threat to social and economic stability. The overall success of YES, therefore, is measured not just by the volume of 12-month work opportunities created, but by its innovative mechanism for connecting Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) compliance incentives directly with youth employment.
Inyosi’s role as a facilitator is crucial. They employ a unique and integrated approach that specifically links the BEE compliance needs of large corporate clients (the Corporate Investors) with tangible business growth and capacity building for black-owned SMMEs. This structure transforms a single corporate investment into a triple compliance and capacity-building benefit and has the additional benefit of reducing overall lending risk for its Corporate Investors.
This strategic collaboration is a proven catalyst for job creation. Inyosi, alongside its Corporate Investors and Beneficiaries, has, since 2018, collectively provided 2,284 job placements to the South African economy. A cornerstone of this success has been partners like Nestlé, whose YES programmes with Inyosi since 2018 has created 1,063 valuable job placements, demonstrating a strong commitment to long-term economic empowerment with a 12.14% absorption rate (measured in its strictest sense) into sustained employment (absorption is closer to 30% when considering part time and other forms of employment). Furthermore, Inyosi successfully delivered many additional multi-year YES programmes, generating a further 1,221 placements with vital support from other contributing entities, including, the Federated Employers Mutual Association, Zutari and Underwriters Limited.
For young South Africans, the YES programme is a direct solution to the crippling “no experience, no job” cycle.
- Quality Work Experience: They receive 12 months of paid, quality work experience in a formal business environment, the essential first step required by employers.
- Income and Skills: The experience provides a crucial monthly income, valuable sector-specific skills, vital soft skills (like professional communication and workplace etiquette), and a formal CV reference.
- Pathway to Employability: The primary goal is to provide a powerful pathway to future employability, with many participants being absorbed permanently by their host SMMEs or securing employment elsewhere due to their enhanced, certified CV.
Ultimately, the YES programme implemented by Inyosi is a strategically brilliant and cohesive win-win-win for all participants, simultaneously strengthening the private sector and the national economy. The programme’s greatest success is the benefit to the economy and society as a whole:
- Local Economic Multiplier: The substantial sums of money paid out as salaries (billions of Rands since inception) are injected directly into local communities, stimulating local economic growth and creating a powerful multiplier effect.
- Increased Tax Base: By transforming job seekers into active taxpayers and contributing members of the workforce, the programme fosters a more stable, productive, and prosperous society. This increase in the active tax base and reduction in dependency bolsters overall investor confidence and supports long-term national well-being.
- Enhancing sustainability of Inyosi’s SMME Beneficiaries: Inyosi’s unique offering provides its SMME Beneficiaries with paid-for-youth which enhances their profitability and reduces overall portfolio risk.
The YES programme stands as a powerful example of how compliance mandates can be leveraged as economic accelerators, creating sustainable value that extends far beyond the corporate scorecard.
The crisis of youth unemployment in South Africa requires a strategic investment from businesses with measurable returns.
By partnering with Inyosi to scale its implementation of the YES Programme, any Corporate can directly transition unemployed youth from economic exclusion to meaningful work, while simultaneously realising significant value for your organisation or portfolio. You are investing in the stability and growth of the South African economy by increasing the skilled, productive labour force. Your commitment transforms potential social risk into a demographic dividend. Finally, your YES participation will reduce the overall risk to the portfolio into which you have already invested for Enterprise and/or Supplier Development.
Engage with Inyosi today to unlock a triple return on social impact, BEE compliance, and the future prosperity of South Africa. Your capital is not merely an investment; it is a catalyst for employment and economic transformation.