Unemployed university graduate Amanda Ngobese from Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal was desperate to find employment when she joined Shoprite in 2020 via its Retail Readiness programme.

After completing the programme, Ngobese became a Trainee Manager and was soon promoted to her current position of Assistant Manager at Usave Richmond.

When she first joined Shoprite, Ngobese was inspired and motivated by her colleagues and peers, especially Nomusa Ncingila, then Administrative Manager at Shoprite Symons. “She was always on top of everything and knew her job like the back of her hand. I looked up to her as a mentor and she inspired me to work hard and strive to be the best,” said Ngobese.

The Shoprite Group is South Africa’s largest private sector employer with over 140 000 employees, excluding indirect employment. Despite the effect of the lockdown and unrest on retail trade, the Group still managed to create 4 608 new jobs in South Africa in the past financial year.

Over the past five years, the Group has spent more than R700 million on extensive retail skills and training programmes, including the Retail Readiness programme. About 65% of its employees are youth (under the age of 35) and 64% are women.

Read more about how the Shoprite Group continues to invest in creating jobs and providing thousands of young people with retail skills into 2022.