Through worldwide partnerships and initiatives, we’re helping people reach their full potential and seize career opportunities around the globe. We also offer bursaries and learnerships to create pathways for the young and disadvantaged.
Partnerships and initiatives
Inclusive hiring in Saudi Arabia
Our teams in Saudi Arabia continue to support their government to achieve its goals of hiring Saudi nationals. Ongoing initiatives include hiring:
- Saudi women in technology. We prioritise hiring Saudi women and developing them for leadership roles
- Saudi nationals with disabilities. We hire people with disabilities and support them in building their careers
- Saudi graduates. We’re committed to hiring Saudi talent straight from college and/or with less experience. We mentor those graduates and prepare them for future roles
Creating employment opportunities for Māori and Pacific Islanders
Our New Zealand teams set out to diversify our talent pipeline. This led to a partnership with TupuToa, an organisation that aims to get more Māori and Pacific Islanders into IT organisations through internships, graduate positions, and entry-level roles. We welcomed two interns through the scheme, who we have since extended permanent job offers to.
Engaging graduates in Northern Europe
In Northern Europe, we collaborated with Erasmus University to give young starters a chance to work at Westcon-Comstor or follow a traineeship.
Supporting at-risk and vulnerable youth in Rwanda
We entered a partnership with Rising Above the Storms, a global nonprofit organisation that provides aid in Rwanda and advocates for at-risk and vulnerable youth. Through this collaboration, we carried out a series of activities at the Rwanda Learning Centre, including:
- Youth education: We provided sponsorship for 10 young individuals, ensuring their schooling needs were covered for a full year
- Technology: Together with Business Partners in Rwanda, we set up a computer lab – named Comstor and Friends E-Lab – at the centre to introduce disadvantaged youth to technology in early life
- Period products: We contributed towards the purchase of sanitary products, equivalent to one year’s supply
Enhancing lives for dependants of National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) members in South Africa
We partnered with South Africa’s JB Marks Educational Trust Fund to offer IT bursaries for dependants of NUM members.
Disabled Learnership Programmes in South Africa
Run by Action for the Blind, our Disabled Learnership programme is currently benefitting four students in South Africa. The programme includes accommodation, sourcing, and assessment, plus a stipend. The recipients are studying for a range of National Qualifications Frameworks (NQFs) in IT and project management.
Sponsoring interns in Mauritius
In partnership with the local government, our Mauritian Westcon office sponsored one intern for a year. They received technical and soft skill training during their internship, before eventually joining as a permanent team member.
Making IT more accessible to women in Africa
We established Westcon Woman’s Empowerment Trust, which grants bursaries for African women to study IT. Currently, we have two students benefitting from this initiative.
Cybersecurity Specialist Learnerships in South Africa
This year, we provided 12 candidates in South Africa with a 12-month cybersecurity learnership programme, featuring three months of theoretical training and nine months of workplace experience with us.
Upon completion, candidates were awarded ‘Learner’ exits with a Level 4 NQFs in Technical Support and Cybersecurity.
