South Africa's Biggest Asset Is Sitting at Home Without a Job

OPINION The Future of South Africa

Opinion: unlocking South Africa's young workforce is the most important economic project of the next decade, and here is what it would take.

By the Minute Pulse News editorial desk

Every country wants a young population. Young people start businesses, adopt new technology, fill classrooms and, in time, pay taxes. South Africa has one of the youngest populations among major economies. Yet it also has one of the highest youth unemployment rates in the world. A national strength has become a national warning light.

The first job is the hardest

The hardest job to get is the first one. Employers ask for experience, and young people cannot gain experience without a job. Add the cost of transport to interviews, data to apply online and a weak school-to-work pipeline, and it is easy to see how a school-leaver can drift for years. Long periods without work do lasting damage to confidence, savings and skills.

The Employment Tax Incentive, which lowers the cost to employers of hiring young workers, was designed to address this. Its reach has been limited by awareness and by how well it works in practice. Whether it is enough is a fair question. What is not in doubt is that the first job is where policy should concentrate its effort.

Five things that would move the needle

Make hiring a first-timer simple and safe. Cut the paperwork around learnerships and apprenticeships, and give small businesses clear, fast support to take on a young trainee.
Teach what employers actually need. Technical and vocational colleges should be tied closely to local industry: electricians, solar installers, welders, plumbers, coders, bookkeepers and care workers are all in demand.
Lower the cost of looking for work. Cheaper data and transport are not luxuries. They are the price of admission to the job market.
Back township and rural entrepreneurs. A young person with a good idea needs access to a bank account, a market and a mentor more than a slogan. Business support agencies should be easier to reach and faster to respond.
Open the door to digital work. Remote work, freelancing and online services can connect a young person in Mthatha or Polokwane to clients anywhere. Skills in design, writing, customer support and data are portable.

What young people can do now

Waiting for the system to fix itself is not a plan. Young South Africans can build proof of ability while they search: volunteer on projects, learn a skill online, build a small portfolio, take a short accredited course and keep a record of what they have done. A CV that shows initiative stands out even when it lacks a formal job.

South Africa's Biggest Asset Is Sitting at Home Without a Job

Employers have a part to play too. Giving one young person a chance, a month of paid work experience or a reference, costs little and can change a life.

The counter-argument

Sceptics say youth unemployment is a symptom of low growth, and that no training programme can fix it without an economy that creates more jobs. They are partly right. Skills without jobs are frustrating. But the reverse is also true: employers cannot grow if they cannot find people with the right skills. The two problems must be solved together: growth and reform on one side, practical training and fair access on the other.

The cost of getting it wrong

A generation without work is not only an economic loss. It is a source of frustration, vulnerability to exploitation and a drag on families who support jobless relatives. A generation with work is the engine of a better country. The choice is ours, and the window will not stay open forever.

Join the conversation

If you are young, what is the biggest obstacle between you and a job? If you are an employer, what would make you hire a first-timer? Tell us in the comments.

Also in this series: Part 1: Who controls the power switch controls the future and Part 3: The future is decided ward by ward. Practical help: How to start a business in South Africa and AI for South African workers and small businesses.

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Source: ThePulse