A new outcomes-based employment model is quietly transforming South Africa’s approach to youth unemployment and it’s proving effective. The Jobs Boost Outcomes Fund, launched in mid-2024, has successfully placed over 3,070 young individuals in quality jobs across 107 employers, including numerous small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The fund, which links financing to actual job outcomes rather than training inputs, is being celebrated as a groundbreaking approach to how public-private partnerships can drive youth employment in a sustainable and impact-driven manner. The program is set to surpass its target of employing 4,500 youth by the end of 2025.
A Results-Based Model: Paying for Employment Outcomes, Not Just Training
Jobs Boost operates on a straightforward yet impactful principle: implementation partners are compensated only upon achieving results. Currently, 12 partners receive 80% of their funding after successfully placing a jobseeker in a full-time, formal job. The remaining 20% is paid once the candidate has been employed for a minimum of six months.
This model contrasts sharply with traditional skills development funding, where governments or donors provide upfront financing for training programs, often without ensuring job placement. In the Jobs Boost approach, the risk is transferred from the government to service providers, who are motivated to tailor their strategies for successful job market outcomes.
“Implementation partners are driven to innovate because their success depends on actual employment outcomes,” says a spokesperson from Krutham, the program manager of the fund.
Why It Is Important for SMEs
Jobs Boost positions its roles with an average starting salary of R5,677/month, well above South Africa’s minimum wage. For SMEs, which often face challenges in covering recruitment and training expenses upfront, this model provides access to a steady stream of job-ready candidates without the need for subsidized wages.
The approach also promotes long-term employment stability, as outcome payments are linked to employee retention. This makes Jobs Boost not just a job creation initiative but also a workforce development strategy that aligns with the needs of small businesses.
Funding, Flexibility, and Risk Management
Supported by R300 million in outcomes-based funding from the National Skills Fund under the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention (PYEI), Jobs Boost is built for flexibility. When one implementation partner faced USAID funding cuts, the programme swiftly reallocated its budget to other partners to ensure overall targets remained on track.
Such risk management and budget flexibility are uncommon in public-sector-led youth programmes, which typically lack the agility to make adjustments mid-course.
“This goes beyond a single programme — it showcases how South Africa’s broader skills ecosystem can thrive with a performance-based design,” says Krutham.
What’s next?
Jobs Boost, having achieved early success, is set to move into Phase 2 in late 2025, with plans to scale its impact and attract further investment. This model provides SMEs, startups, and social enterprises a practical and measurable framework to contribute to job creation while developing talent pipelines.
As global studies point out the shortcomings of traditional job-readiness models, South Africa’s Jobs Boost fund may provide a valuable blueprint for other economies aiming to connect youth with meaningful employment, particularly in sectors where SMEs are the key job creators.
