Vodafone is launching a comprehensive support package for jobseekers in Europe, Turkey, Egypt and South Africa, combining price discounts and data offers, continued access to learning and skills with Udemy and the networks Future Jobs Finder tool.

Vodafone is also donating Facebook advertising to jobseekers in some markets, helping them to promote their profiles using Facebook banner ads to reach hiring managers.

The new support package follows a successful initiative launched in the UK last November, which offered unlimited 5G data, calls and texts for £10 a month to anyone who had lost their job as a result of the pandemic. This will be extended for a further six months from today to coincide with the launch in other markets.
It’s the first initiative following the launch of Vodafone’s new brand positioning – ‘Together We Can’ – which Vodafone said demonstrates its belief that the partnership between technology and society can build a better future.

The measures announced today by Vodafone include connectivity offers for jobseekers, ranging from discounts on mobile and converged plans, to free extra mobile data allowances and zero-rating access to job portals to ensure that access does not come from data allowances.

Vodafone is also donating Facebook advertising and media investment spend to jobseekers, enabling them to promote their profiles and highlight their CV with suitable potential employers. Candidates in participating Vodafone markets in Europe will be shortlisted online, and those selected will feature in special Facebook ‘ads to reach hiring managers.

Vodafone has also extended its exclusive partnership with the global eLearning marketplace Udemy, originally launched in 2020, which provides access to more than 600 free, curated courses on personal growth, productivity and professional skills, as well as essential tech skills. This will be complemented with additional learning for career development and other local partnerships for eLearning where available.

Additionally, Vodafone’s Future Jobs Finder tool remains available in every Vodafone market, helping users to find digital or technology job opportunities and build a CV. For jobseekers whose background is in non-technology fields, Future Jobs Finder also helps identify transferable skills and strengths, giving recommendations on tech professions and eLearning suited to people’s backgrounds and aptitudes.

“For people who have found themselves out of work as a result of the pandemic, staying connected is even more critical to finding a new job, reskilling and keeping in touch during a difficult time,” said Vodafone Group Commercial Director, Alex Froment-Curtil. “We know that job seekers will be under financial pressure, so our jobseekers.connected initiative is our way of helping them to find new roles, develop and learn new skills and explore new career opportunities in technology.”
In January, Vodafone announced that the Vodafone Foundation will invest a further €20m (£17.3m) over the next five years to expand Foundation digital skills and education programmes by funding local initiatives in sixteen Vodafone markets. This investment is expected to reach 16m learners by 2025.

The programmes, delivered in partnership with charities and NGOs, will enable people to develop their knowledge and skills in using digital technologies, with the goal to reach millions of primary and secondary learners, those who are not in education, employment or training, and the elderly.