Eskom will soon launch a crowdsourcing digital platform to supplement its existing skills base.
Employees at companies that participate in a four-day work week pilot will work 80 percent of their current hours for 100 percent of their current pay. Shoprite’s delivery service Sixty60 has created over 6,000 jobs since its launch in late 2019 and Eskom will soon launch a crowdsourcing digital platform to supplement its existing skills base to help address its operational challenges.
Automotive industry nurtures engineering skills
The Automotive Industry Development Centre Eastern Cape (AIDC EC) has started on the development of a regional five-year masterplan to nurture the engineering skills needed to support manufacturing in South Africa as the automotive industry transitions to future mobility, including electric vehicles (EVs).
The masterplan framework identifies the key elements of a common, integrated engineering offering from high school to the institutions of higher learning in the Eastern Cape. The province houses several vehicle manufacturers, including Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Isuzu, Ford and FAW, and contributes 38 percent of the country’s total vehicle production and 50 percent of its exports.
Pioneer pilot of four-day work week
4 Day Week SA NPC is looking for companies to “pioneer pilot” a four-day work week in 2023, where employees at participating companies will work 80% of their current hours for 100% of their output.
Research suggests that participating companies will achieve 100 percent of their current output, while saving money. They may also help solve unemployment, make life easier for single mothers, and contribute to reducing climate change, among other benefits.
“I would argue this is not actually rocket science,” Andrew Barnes, author of The 4 Day Week: How the Flexible Work Revolution Can Increase Productivity, Profitability and Well-being, and Create a Sustainable Future, said at the launch of the project this week. “If you have a more engaged, more empowered, more focused workforce, they will deliver more output than one that isn’t.”
Sixty60 creates over 6,000 jobs since launch
The Shoprite Group delivery service Sixty60 has created 6,299 new job opportunities since its launch in late 2019.
The group says it has more than 145,000 employees across its thousands of stores and network distribution centres across Africa, making it the largest South African retailer by market capitalisation, sales, profit, and the number of employees and customers.
It said it continues to invest in creating jobs and providing thousands of young people with retail skills into 2022.
Eskom turns to crowdsourcing to add to skills base
Eskom will soon launch a crowdsourcing digital platform to supplement its existing skills base to help address its operational challenges.
According to the state-owned power entity, the platform will act as a skills database to acquire additional expertise and resolve its urgent business needs, and leverage partnerships with statutory and non-statutory bodies to ensure that it can access the best candidates in the electricity supply industry, engineering and technical professions.
“Eskom is in the process of matching the skills that have already been made available to its needs and will be recruiting the suitable candidates imminently,” said Eskom group chief executive, André de Ruyter.
