I’m desperately looking for job, I’m a hard-working
person. I’m willing to do any kind of job. I’m a fast learner…’
It’s a common refrain in a country with one of the highest youth-unemployment rates globally and where more than half of all 15- to 24-years-olds are not in jobs, education or in training. Compounding the issue is the fact that, in times of crisis, young people are the first to lose their jobs, and the last to regain them.
With the onset of COVID-19 and the associated lockdowns leaving SA’s economy teetering, the depth of the challenge is brought into sharp focus by the extent of the country’s very young population; about one-third of everyone living in SA is aged between 18 and 34.
Now the government’s Presidential
Youth Employment (YES) intervention – the most comprehensive plan to address youth unemployment in SA’s democratic history – holds the hopes and futures of about 19 million youth in its hands.
Waseem Carrim, CEO of the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) – which is working with the Presidency, the Department of Employment and Labour and other government depart-ments, as well as civil society – says they’re tackling the crisis via a five-pronged strategy. First is SA Youth, an online platform that connects young people with opportunities for earning, learning and volunteering, and is accessible free of charge via a mobi-site.
In the six months to February, according to Carrim, more than 1.2 million young people signed up and were linked to 200 000 opportunities.
Secondly, a budget has been set aside for an agile-skills development programme, focused on sectors in the SA economy that are growing fast despite the pandemic. Carrim cites global business services such as data-processing and call centres, along with digital and tech, as areas in which the country has the capacity to create jobs, and to do so at scale.
