Salesforce hosts Virtual 
Career Fair in SA

Global CRM leader Salesforce will host the Trailblazer Virtual Career Fair on Thursday, 3 August as part of its ongoing initiative to grow new digital skills for the South African market. 

Skills development is an issue of high priority for Salesforce globally, and particularly in South Africa and on the continent. 

At Salesforce World Tour Essentials that took place in Johannesburg in June, Salesforce reaffirmed its commitment to addressing the digital skills gap in South Africa through its ecosystem of partners. In October 2022 Salesforce announced that the ecosystem is expected to create 31,800 new jobs and generate $5.1-billion in new business revenue in South Africa by 2026. 

The Career Fair is an opportunity for attendees to connect with local companies about skills and employment, learn from career experts and find out how to level up with Salesforce skills. The fair is an integral part of Salesforce’s comprehensive talent strategy for South Africa, which is  headed by senior talent programme manager Ursula Fear. 

The Career Fair is hosted in collaboration with the Salesforce Talent Alliance programme.Talent Alliance is dedicated to Partners and Customers, who aim to increase the number of net new talent into their organisations. Partners and Customers are incentivised to hire people with less than 6 months of paid Salesforce experience. They are rewarded by being given the option to attend talent development events, receive certification vouchers and most importantly get access to a diverse workforce. 

Organisations participating in this year’s Career Fair are Standard Bank, Capitec, Cape Union Mart, SmartenUp, BlueSky, CloudSmiths and Moyo. Eligible job seekers will need to have 3000 points on Trailhead to access the Career Fair. So if someone has not yet accessed the free learning platform called Trailhead, please go to the website (www.salesforce.com) and set up your profile account and start learning. 

“Technology is the chariot that’s bringing the jobs, but we need to ensure that we’re training, developing and upskilling people to take up these jobs, ” says Fear.

“It is not sustainable for businesses to import skills from abroad, or to lose skills to companies elsewhere in the world. South Africa, and indeed the African continent, has a young population that needs to be put to work if we are to have any chance of addressing the inequality that runs so deeply in our society. The Career Fair is one way to expose people to the ways in which Salesforce is addressing the digital skills challenges in the country. “

Zuko Mdwaba, Salesforce area VP, Africa executive and South Africa country leader, last month revealed that Salesforce growth in South Africa is ahead of the global average. While this is a significant achievement, it is crucial that the growth is augmented by a skills programme that will help ensure that the country can meet the demand for the right digital skills at the right time and at the right price. 

Mdwaba says: “We have to develop digital skills in a sophisticated and sustainable way if we want to continue growing in South Africa and the way to do this is collectively. At Salesforce we believe business is the platform for change, and it is by working together – with partners, customers, stakeholders, civil society and education facilities – that we will achieve this.”

Salesforce partners and customers across industries, including banking, retail and telcos will take part in the Career Fair, demonstrating the ecosystem’s commitment to growing digital skills in South Africa and on the continent. Salesforce recently reported that its ecosystem of partners in South Africa grew by 61% while Partner Certified Individuals grew by 58%, as at the end of Q1 of FY24, while Partners that hold Certifications grew by 39%, as reported at the end of Q1 FY24. 

* For more information about the Trailblazer Connect Career Fair, please visit the website.