Unemployed youth recruited to support township expansion
They offer young people living with a disability and unemployed youth an opportunity to make an income.
Tiger Brands aims to expand its market share in South Africa’s informal sector, which includes spaza outlets, by hiring disabled individuals and jobless adolescents from the surrounding areas.
Aiming to increase its presence, the company announced its route-to-market strategy in 2023 by targeting 130 00 general trade stores.
This includes spazas, superettes, mini-superettes, and mini- and midi-wholesalers in townships across South Africa over five years.
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The business will also increase marketing spend in 2 000 selected stores in this sector which it calls perfect outlets.
Creating jobs in the community is essential to achieving Tiger Brands’ growth goals in the unorganised sector of the local economy.
The business’s growth into the unorganised sector, concentrating on women, has already created approximately 300 jobs in the local community.
Half of South Africa’s youth population or 4.9 million young people between the ages of 15 and 34 are unemployed, according to 2024 figures by Statistics South Africa, and that leaves young women more vulnerable to unemployment compared to young men.
And 68% of people living with a disability are without work (National Council of and for People with Disabilities, 2019).
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Tiger Brands will select 32 candidates from Soweto, Alexandra, and Thembisa for a leadership program designed for unemployed adolescents and young people with disabilities.
The candidates will be placed in their home areas.
Recruits will participate in a learnership programme under a fixed-term contract and be rewarded with a marketable national qualification.
This group will be a part of over 80 young individuals to be developed across Tiger Brands’ site operations through learnerships.
According to Tiger Brands’ chief customer officer, Luigi Ferrini, Tiger Brands is building a solid foundation of support to deliver with speed their route-to-market strategy in a segment of the economy that is under-serviced and where there is an opportunity for them to fulfil consumer needs and grow exponentially as a business.
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Ferrini said their recruits will help grow the markets with their local insights and understanding of their communities.
“Recruits will gain experience and grow with agility in the spaces where they live and work,” said Ferrini.
Recruits will be paired with an experienced employee who works daily in the trade and fully understands the specific market during the practical work-integrated learning component of the programme.
Tiger Brands’ chief human resource officer, S’ne Magagula said: “Tiger Brands is building a pipeline of talented young people equipped with the necessary qualifications, skills and practical experience, which will reshape their future and have them play an active role in our economy.”
In-store merchandise audits, point-of-sale merchandise placement, stock despatch and control are some of the in-trade duties the recruits will undertake.
