Shadow Careers is an impact sourcing and job creation initiative which originated in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town. Since 2020, along with their partners, BPeSA, Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, Sigma Connected, EXL, Ignition Group, Collinson Group, Boldr, and Nimble Group, they have created 500 permanent jobs for economically and socially excluded youth. More than 90% of Shadow students are placed into permanent jobs on successful completion of the course.
“Shadow Careers is a key partner to the BPO Industry in that they source excluded youth, provide them with training and pathway them into employment. Congratulations to the Shadow Careers Team on not just a phenomenal milestone, but on the social impact they’ve created, considering that these 500 candidates were sourced from marginalised communities and by joining Shadow, improved not just their lives but that of their families and their communities,” says Reshni Singh, CEO of BPeSA.
“Shadow Careers has become a movement, where our team of career facilitators and students are invested with their hearts in enabling a better future for themselves and others. As part of our effort to reduce youth unemployment, we focus on creating easy access to skills development and role specific training. Furthermore, we are creating a new sustainable talent pool for South Africa’s thriving call centre industry”, says the Director team at Shadow Careers.
The first and the 500th graduates have been employed by Cape Town-based Sigma Connected SA, Shadow Careers’ first ever employment partner.
Gary Gilburd, CEO at Sigma Connected Group, says: “We are proud to be so closely linked with Shadow Careers and to have played a key role in them achieving this superb and memorable milestone.
“Their work around impact sourcing is inspirational and has helped to give so many job and training opportunities for disadvantaged youth across South Africa. We are committed to working with Shadow Careers for many more years to come and we feel it’s a special partnership as our values align so closely.”
“Shadow Careers has been a strong partner in our recent growth. We are proud to be their partner and are excited about their expansion, growth and impact in the community”; says Pratap Rao, EXL Executive.
Shadow Careers is a national job creation initiative having recently expanded to Durban. They currently have 160 students enrolled in Cape Town and Durban; and aim to create an additional 350 jobs in 2023 along with expanding across other parts of the country soon.