Even as South Africa slowly emerges from the suffocating financial grip of the Covid-19 pandemic, recently launched employment statistics continue to make for grim reading, with practically eight million folks unemployed.
South Africa actually recorded improved financial exercise in the fourth quarter of 2021, including an enlargement in real GDP of 1.2% compared to the previous quarter, but unemployment nonetheless reached record levels.
Denice Dumisa
According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS), unemployment in Q4 last yr rose to 35.3% from 34.9% in the earlier quarter. This is the very best degree because the begin of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey in 2008.
Even more alarmingly, the youth unemployment fee stood at a staggering 65.5%.
The latest employment information was launched on the finish of March by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), and came simply days after South Africa managed to attract R1.2 trillion in funding in the course of the fourth South Africa Investment Conference.
Analysts have described the country’s economic system as “producing jobless growth” and believe that even with upward economic development within the medium term, South Africa will still have an overall unemployment figure of round 30%.
Youth unemployment is a worldwide problem, much more acutely pronounced in South Africa, where the most recent figures are sounding important alarm bells.
In late 2021, Stats SA reported that two out of every three young folks under the age of 35 in South Africa are unemployed. For the age cohort beneath 25, this rises to 3 out of each four, or a jarring 75%.
But in and amongst the dire unemployment statistics there are rays of light on the method to begin to effectively handle this socio-economic crisis.
Education is vital
According to the QLFS report, of the 7,9 million unemployed individuals in the fourth quarter of 2021, as many as fifty one,6% had schooling levels beneath matric.
This variety of unemployed drops the upper the schooling stage. Those with a Matric pass constitute 38.6% of unemployed and this determine drops considerably for those with different tertiary qualifications (6.9%) and graduates who represent solely 2.4% of South Africa’s formal unemployed.
Astron Energy’s Organisational Capability, Learning and Development Manager Lindiwe Ncongwane said: “It is an often repeated mantra that training is the key to success, however the labour pressure survey actually bears this out.
“Education allied to alternative is the golden key to breaking this cycle of unemployment and to create a future for young folks within the nation.”
Astron Energy, which operates South Africa’s second largest network of retail websites together with the Caltex model, runs a number of Youth Development Programmes overlaying both academic help and workplace and experiential studying opportunities.
Astron Energy’s Youth Development Programmes include:
Learnerships
Bursaries
Apprenticeships
In-Service-Training
Graduate Internship Programme
Opportunities
According to Ncongwane, South African Corporates have a key role to play in providing opportunities for graduates and those with different qualifications to assist cut back the number of unemployed, and in addition to help build a generation of employable younger people.
“Investments in coaching and abilities growth, allied to training qualifications, will help build a workforce that’s multi-skilled and capable of adapt to a mess of duties and industries,” she mentioned.
เกจวัดแรงดันน้ำ4หุน of Work report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) discovered that 50% of all staff will need reskilling by 2025 as adoption of expertise will increase.
The report also listed important thinking and problem-solving as leading skills employers imagine might be wanted over the subsequent 5 years, whereas newer developments centre on self-management abilities similar to lively learning, resilience, stress tolerance and suppleness.
According to Ncongwane, a key part of Astron Energy’s focus is to equip younger individuals for the world of work, not only at Astron Energy and the petrochemical business, however the across a range of disciplines to enable them to be globally aggressive.
The firm additionally runs a variety of school-level initiatives within the STEM space, but in line with the 4th Industrial Revolution’s focus on the 3Cs of Communication, Critical pondering and Collaboration, has broadened this to STEAM – Science, Technology, Arts and Maths – in a bid to develop problem-solving and process-based studying.
The method forward
“As a rustic, we’ve to proceed investing within the training of our younger folks, particularly within the crucial abilities house, after which create alternatives for them to apply these expertise and develop in workplace environments,” Ncongwane stated.
“As corporates we want to design a range of programmes and initiatives to meet not only the wants of the business, but additionally the way forward for work – and critically the future employment potentialities for our younger folks.
“If we do that right, we will start changing the outlook on the employment front and make certain that financial growth has a tangible impact on the futures and livelihoods of the generations to come.”
In the Youth Development area, Astron Energy runs the following programmes:
Learnerships
8 X Learnerships in chemical operations on the Astron Energy refinery in Milnerton, Cape Town
20 X Learnerships in Sales and New Venture Creation at Johannesburg workplaces
The Learnerships run from 1 Oct 2021 – 30 Sep 2022
Bursaries
Astron Energy runs a full Bursary programme which covers both underneath graduate and publish graduate research, from 1st yr to Masters Level students.
The bursaries embrace tuition fees, accommodation, books, meals, money allowances and vacation work within the form of internship/in-service-training inside the company’s operations.
The programme started in 2020 and to date over 440 students have been funded.
There are currently 196 pupil bursars and 15 worker bursars as part of this programme. A whole of 26 worker youngsters are a part of the bursary programme for 2022.
The bursary covers a range of research fields this yr together with:
BSc: Chemical Engineering/ BSc: Industrial Engineering/ BSC: Property Studies/ Masters: Industrial Psychology/ Honours: Financial Accounting/ Bcom: Economics/ BSc: Electrical Engineering/ Bcom/BA: Human Resources Management/ Bcom: Information Technology/ Bcom: Internal Auditing/ Bcom: Logistics/ Occupational Health and Safety/ Bcom: Supply Chain/ BSc: Analytical Chemistry.
Astron Energy additionally provides successful bursars the chance to be part of the Astron Energy Graduate Training programme.
Apprenticeships
Astron Energy provides 24-month Apprenticeships in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering and Instrumentation at the refinery in Cape Town. At present, the company has six apprenticeships in its manufacturing division.
Graduate Programme
The Graduate Internship Programme is run in accordance with the varied disciplines required by the enterprise and runs for a period of between 18-24 months. The current intake of Graduate interns is set to end on 31 December 2022.
Infographic
Astron Energy at present has seventy seven participants in its Learnership, Apprenticeship and Graduate Internship programmes:
LogisticsGraduate Internship13
CFOGraduate Internship11
RetailGraduate Internship5
HRGraduate Internship3
HRLearnership20
C & IGraduate Internship2
CEOGraduate Internship2
ManufacturingGraduate Internship1
STOGraduate Internship3
Strategy Graduate Internship2
SHEQGraduate Internship1
ManufacturingApprentice6
ManufacturingChemical Operations Learnership8
Total77
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