Learnerships are popular ways of raking up BEE points. Learnerships are market-driven development interventions for those youth who cannot access post-school education or who find it difficult to enter the labour market, with or without qualification.

POVERTY FASHION AND THE BEE DELUSION

Are learnership youth used as indentured labour in markets where wages are becoming too low to attract mature job seekers?

Is this what Truworths is doing?

ANTI POOR ADVERTISING

Companies get massive perks when they provide learnership opportunities.

1. a learnership group of 10 disabled candidates rakes in more than a million in tax rebates
2. every cent paid to learners as a stipend can be recouped by employers, yet most insist on pushing these youth to the edge by paying them R2500 per month to do a full-time job and study at the same time. The only youth who can afford to participate in these interventions are those with financially stable families. How deeply ironic. Unacceptable.
3. offering learnerships ranks among the most viable ways to rack up those BEE illusion points.
4. these companies get to employ these unemployed youth and work them like donkeys for less than the minimum wage.

NOT PRO-POOR

There are many problems with the Truworths learnership recruitment adverts.

If only we could fine them for being dull, boring and insipid!

1. They’re deadbeat dull and uninspiring, information is bare bones yet they have a long-winded evasive paragraph for remuneration.
2. Terminology used is more indicative of an advert meant for skilled professionals familiar with industry lingo, rather than new market entrants or inexperienced youth.
3. A learnership is an occupational qualification route – candidates deserve to be assured they are not simply applying for a low-paying job masquerading as a ‘learnership’ but should know what qualification they will be awarded at the end of the learnership.  In fact, this advert looks like a typical employment advert, not a learnership one.
4. Note the vague, dodgy statement about pay.  This secretive-about-pay statement is used in all Truworths job averts.
5. Truworths ain’t big on transparency friends, in fact, they defend it. Secrecy is not pro-poor, meaning that secrecy bites you. Secrecy costs applicants money as they find themselves applying for jobs and baaskap-learnerships they can’t afford to accept.
6. The Truworths advertising standard is one allowing racism, sexism and all forms of prejudice to enter the recruitment value chain. Truworths is welcome to submit its policies to us for review against principles enshrined in the Constitution.

Truworths Truth Hurts

Truworths Policies

It would be great to review Truworths recruitment and compensation policies!  

NOMINATE YOUR TSOTSI

Forward emails requesting pay history and pay expectation information from job advertisers who are secretive about pay during recruitment.

Screenshot job adverts that are vague about pay or that don’t even mention it.

My #Recruitment Experience