Sigma Connected celebrates its 1,000th graduate milestone
BIRMINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM — Sigma Connected, a UK-based Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) provider, reached a significant milestone by employing the 1,000th graduate from the South African Impact Sourcing organization, Shadow Careers.
This achievement highlights the success of a partnership aimed at combating youth unemployment in South Africa through impactful sourcing strategies.
A partnership for change
Since 2020, Sigma Connected has collaborated with Shadow Careers, a career development initiative founded in the same year. Shadow Careers operates from Cape Town and focuses on creating career opportunities for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds by providing training and upskilling programs.
This partnership has led to the employment of 431 young individuals at Sigma Connected’s Cape Town office, where they handle international accounts, primarily for the UK market.
Addressing youth unemployment
Youth unemployment in South Africa is alarmingly high, with current statistics indicating a rate of approximately 58%.
The collaboration between Sigma Connected and Shadow Careers aims to address this issue by integrating young adults into the workforce, thereby providing them with sustainable career paths and reducing the unemployment rate among the youth.
Sigma Connected CEO Gary Gilburd expressed pride in their pioneering role with Shadow Careers, stating, “The 1000th graduate to come through the [program] is a wonderful milestone and underlines just how successful Shadow Careers has been over the past three years.”
“For us here at Sigma Connected, we want to create long-term careers and also play our part in helping drive down youth unemployment where it really matters,” he added.
Shadow Careers CEO and Co-founder Franco Cotumaccio also commented on the partnership’s success, stating, “We are breaking barriers by creating pathways and enabling access to skills development and permanent employment.”
Future goals
Looking ahead, both organizations are committed to expanding their impact. Shadow Careers aims to partner with more organizations like Sigma Connected to place an additional 1,200 graduates into careers within the year.
This ambitious goal reflects the scalable potential of impact sourcing to transform lives and foster economic development in regions plagued by high unemployment rates.
