Cell C contributes millions to lockdown digital training programme for ‘jobbers’

In light of the president’s announcement that there will be a two-week extension to South Africa’s ongoing lockdown, network provider Cell C has outlined its plans to help people earn money via the gig economy.

According to a statement issued by the mobile operator, it has made R2 million available for “jobbers” through gig technology company M4Jam.

Cell C CEO Douglas Craigie Stevenson explained in a statement: “In late 2019, Cell C worked with M4Jam when we initiated a project to understand the dynamics of the informal telecommunications retail market. Jobbers assisted with mapping informal traders nationwide using geolocation data.”

“The Covid-19 pandemic is having a devastating impact on people’s livelihoods in the informal sector. Cell C wanted to make a direct difference and has provided funding that will pay users (or jobbers) to complete training tasks from the safety of their homes and via all mobile devices during the lockdown.”

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The project is scheduled to run over three weeks and the average payout per jobber is estimated to be R310 per week.

“Most of the jobbers who find parttime, temporary work through M4Jam are not employed in the formal economy and rely on gig-work for income.”

Picture: iStock

According to the company’s CEO Georgie Midgley, M4Jam has removed all location-based jobs off their platform in support of the government’s bid to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Midgley adds that the pandemic is having an upsetting effect on the jobbers who rely on them to make a living.

“As much as it is required to protect our public health institutions, it also requires an urgent and focused response to provide alternative sources of income for South Africans who are formally unemployed.”

M4Jam currently has 320,000 registered jobbers, many of whom have already assisted Cell C in its national rollout of mapping informal traders.

In its Covid-19 jobber support project, Cell C will provide incentivised training for jobbers to complete in the comfort of their own homes via their mobile devices. The curriculum provided is intended to further upskill the Cell C jobbers to both provide income through lockdown and make jobbers more marketable as gig economy participants once lockdown is lifted.

“The three-week curriculum consists of 48 micro-lessons on Covid-19 topics, Cell C product-related topics, general training on being successful as a regular jobber and better data collection while in the field.

“Jobbers will be paid on successful completion of micro-lessons, with payments disbursed evenly over the three weeks of the curriculum into their M4Jam wallet. These funds are accessible via EFT, cash withdrawals at specific retailers, [and] purchasing of data, airtime and other virtual products.”

Those who complete the training will receive a digital certificate of completion at the end of the training and this will be added to their digital CVs on the platform.

“M4Jam is very grateful to Cell C for their contribution and we are calling on other South African corporates to replicate this example. It will impact livelihoods during lockdown and further the country’s skills development goals to help boost the economy once lockdown is over,” added Midgley.

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