South Africa

Here, the key indicators point to South Africa lagging behind other middle-income countries. A report for the National Planning Commission (NPC), Education and ...

Now that’s a gift we can be proud to give! In fact, some work experience makes you seven times more likely to successfully transition into the labour market — and if it’s in a high-growth sector, that’s even better. [Youth Employment Service](https://yes4youth.co.za/) (Yes) programme. [Famous Brands](https://mg.co.za/tag/famous-brands/) has placed youth as baristas in Wimpy and Mugg ’n Bean stores across the country, teaching these youth a practical skill that can be used anywhere in the world. Focusing more on maximising the employability of school leavers in other ways, especially within high-impact sectors such as technology, global business services and the green economy can help to move the needle. [Nedbank](https://mg.co.za/tag/nedbank/) is using the Yes programme to drive its environmental, social and governance agenda by placing youth in areas like land restoration, eco-tourism, disaster management, education and even running food gardens. It is these future professionals and entrepreneurs that will be South Africa’s real creators of jobs going forward. [Anglo American Platinum](https://mg.co.za/tag/anglo-american-platinum/) is using the Yes turnkey solution to place youth in communities around their mining operations, ensuring that they develop economies beyond the mines themselves while building capacity in areas such as healthcare and education. If each of those 10% can drive the creation of another 10 jobs, suddenly we’re looking at a significant multiplier effect. While it’s important to get a post-school qualification to enhance employability, it’s not a deal-breaker. But the situation remains dire for our youth, where seven million people aged 15-34 are still unemployed (56.1% according to the expanded definition). What this points to is that these structural challenges aren’t going to be fixed any time soon.