The AIDC is launching a project in April 2010 to assist retrenched workers in the automotive industry by creating a platform on which to showcase their skills and by creating a central job bank.
Barlow Manilal, AIDC CEO, says that the Gauteng Provincial Government is addressing the fact that many retrenched workers would not necessarily all have the required resources to enter a formal recruitment process such as a comprehensive CV, access to the internet or even perhaps money to call for an interview from a mobile phone.
The initiative is being funded by the Gauteng Provincial Government
AIDC will set up a help desk to update records and keep job seekers informed on the latest employment opportunities in the automotive and related industries.
The database was the brainchild of a meeting hosted by the AIDC in 2009 which was convened to discuss the issue of retrenchments and develop a clear action plan to mitigate job losses. The list of participants was an impressive cross-section of automotive industry representatives, government and labour including the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA), the National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers (NAACAM), the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), the Department of Labour and other provincial and national government departments.
In August 2009, Minister of Economic Development Ebrahim Patel confirmed that South Africa had experienced the worst quarterly economic performance in 25 years with serious declines in both manufacturing and mining production. Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan elaborated on the plight of the local economy in relation to its global counterparts during his budget speech in February 2010:
The database will be used to complement several government programmes currently being administered for retrenched workers, including:
- Training Lay-off Scheme
- Merseta RPL Scheme
- SMME programmes
The project will kick-off in April 2010 with the development of the web portal and database running concurrently with an initiative to upload retrenched workers contact details and skills profiles.
To submit details of retrenched workers, email Renny Malungane at
