YES Youth Employment Opportunity (TFG)

About the role

TFG, the retail group behind well known South African brands including Foschini, Markham, @home, Totalsports, Sterns, and Exact, is recruiting unemployed young South Africans through the national Youth Employment Service initiative, generally known as YES. This is a genuine 12 month, fixed term workplace opportunity rather than a training simulation, placing participants inside a real retail environment across TFG's national store network.

TFG began trading in 1924 and has grown into one of South Africa's largest retail groups, spanning fashion, homeware, sportswear, jewellery, and financial services across more than a dozen trading brands. The YES programme is TFG's contribution to the broader national effort to reduce youth unemployment by giving young people their first structured taste of professional work.

Participants gain a full year of practical exposure to retail operations, customer service, sales floor work, and the general rhythm of working inside a professional team environment. For many, this becomes the first real line of experience on their CV, something that is often the single biggest barrier young jobseekers face when applying for their next role. Depending on the specific store and brand placement, day to day duties can include assisting customers, working the sales floor, supporting stock and merchandising tasks, and general store operations, always under the guidance of experienced staff.

To qualify, applicants must be between 18 and 28 years old and currently unemployed. Matric is preferred, though TFG has in some placements accepted candidates with a minimum of Grade 10, so it is worth applying even without a completed matric certificate if the listed role allows it. Applicants must not have been permanently employed with a single employer for more than one continuous year, and must not currently be studying full time during the employment period, since the programme requires full availability for the 12 month term. Anyone who has already completed a YES programme placement previously is not eligible to apply again, as the opportunity is designed to be a first entry point rather than a repeat benefit.

This opportunity particularly suits young South Africans who have never had a formal job before and want a genuine, paid way to build workplace experience, confidence, and a track record, rather than another short course or certificate. It also suits anyone specifically interested in retail, fashion, homeware, or customer facing work as a long term career direction, since TFG's scale means strong performers sometimes move into longer term roles after their YES placement ends, though this is not guaranteed by the programme itself.

Since TFG runs YES placements across many stores and brands nationally, available locations and specific roles change regularly. Applicants should visit the official TFG careers portal, search current YES Youth Employment Service listings, and apply to placements in locations they can realistically commit to for a full year, factoring in daily transport costs and travel time. As always, apply only through TFG's own official careers platform, never through unofficial WhatsApp groups, social media messages, or any channel asking for payment in exchange for a placement.

Requirements

• Aged 18 to 28
• Currently unemployed
• Matric preferred, Grade 10 minimum accepted for some placements
• Not permanently employed with one employer for more than 12 months
• Not studying full time during the employment period
• Must not have completed a previous YES placement