BMW South Africa has created 2,349 work opportunities for black youth, 65% of which are women, after participating in thre Youth Employment Service (YES) programmes so far. This translates into almost R132.5 million in YES Youth salaries being injected into the local economy.

The automotive manufacturing had placed youth both internally in their own structures, and externally through YES implementing partners (IPs). Job placement extends to all nine provinces, with YES youth being employed in areas such as quality management, accounting, communications and finance, or as auto engineers, software developers, sales reps, IT technicians and data analysts.

On the transformative initiative and partnership, YES CEO Ravi Naidoo said, “We have worked with leading businesses to provide quality work experiences for unemployed youth that drive the economy forward. Our partnership with an entity that builds more than just cars for another year, is aligned to our mission.”

The automotive industry is the largest player in South Africa’s manufacturing industry. In 2021, it contributed close to 5% of the country’s annual gross domestic product, and directly employs nearly half a million people both formally and informally.