Even as South Africa slowly emerges from the suffocating financial grip of the Covid-19 pandemic, just lately launched employment statistics proceed to make for grim reading, with practically eight million people unemployed.
South Africa really recorded improved financial exercise within the fourth quarter of 2021, together with an growth in real GDP of 1.2% compared to the previous quarter, however unemployment nonetheless reached report levels.
Denice Dumisa
According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS), unemployment in Q4 last yr rose to 35.3% from 34.9% within the previous quarter. This is the best level for the reason that start of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey in 2008.
Even extra alarmingly, the youth unemployment price stood at a staggering 65.5%.
The latest employment information was released on the end of March by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), and got here just days after South Africa managed to draw R1.2 trillion in investment through the fourth South Africa Investment Conference.
Analysts have described the country’s financial system as “producing jobless growth” and believe that even with upward economic growth in the medium term, South Africa will nonetheless have an total unemployment figure of round 30%.
Youth unemployment is a worldwide problem, much more acutely pronounced in South Africa, the place the newest figures are sounding critical alarm bells.
In late 2021, Stats SA reported that two out of every three younger folks beneath the age of 35 in South Africa are unemployed. For the age cohort underneath 25, this rises to 3 out of every 4, or a jarring 75%.
But in and amongst the dire unemployment statistics there are rays of sunshine on tips on how to start to successfully handle this socio-economic disaster.
Education is key
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 education ranges below matric.
This variety of unemployed drops the higher the schooling level. Those with a Matric cross represent 38.6% of unemployed and this figure drops considerably for those with other tertiary qualifications (6.9%) and graduates who constitute only 2.4% of South Africa’s formal unemployed.
Astron Energy’s Organisational Capability, Learning and Development Manager Lindiwe Ncongwane stated: “It is an usually repeated mantra that schooling is the key to success, but the labour drive survey certainly bears this out.
“Education allied to opportunity is the golden key to breaking this cycle of unemployment and to create a future for young individuals within the nation.”
Astron Energy, which operates South Africa’s second largest community of retail sites together with the Caltex brand, runs a number of Youth Development Programmes overlaying both educational support and office and experiential learning opportunities.
Astron Energy’s Youth Development Programmes embody:
Learnerships
Bursaries
Apprenticeships
In-Service-Training
Graduate Internship Programme
Opportunities
According to Ncongwane, South African Corporates have a key function to play in offering alternatives for graduates and people with different qualifications to help reduce the number of unemployed, and in addition to assist construct a technology of employable younger individuals.
“Investments in training and expertise development, allied to schooling qualifications, will assist construct a workforce that’s multi-skilled and in a position to adapt to a mess of duties and industries,” she stated.
The 2020 Future of Work report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) discovered that 50% of all staff will need reskilling by 2025 as adoption of know-how will increase.
The report also listed critical pondering and problem-solving as leading abilities employers imagine will be wanted over the next five years, while newer trends centre on self-management expertise corresponding to lively studying, resilience, stress tolerance and adaptability.
According to Ncongwane, a key part of Astron Energy’s focus is to equip young individuals for the world of labor, not only at Astron Energy and the petrochemical trade, however the across a spread of disciplines to enable them to be globally aggressive.
The firm also runs a selection of school-level initiatives in the STEM area, but in line with the 4th Industrial Revolution’s focus on the 3Cs of Communication, Critical thinking and Collaboration, has broadened this to STEAM – Science, Technology, Arts and Maths – in a bid to develop problem-solving and process-based learning.
The way forward
“As a country, we have to continue investing in the schooling of our younger individuals, significantly within the critical skills house, after which create alternatives for them to apply these skills and develop in workplace environments,” Ncongwane stated.
“As corporates we want to design a variety of programmes and initiatives to fulfill not solely the wants of the enterprise, but in addition the future of work – and critically the future employment potentialities for our young folks.
“If we do that proper, we can begin altering the outlook on the employment front and ensure that economic development has a tangible impression on the futures and livelihoods of the generations to return.”
In the Youth Development space, 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 offices
The Learnerships run from 1 Oct 2021 – 30 Sep 2022
Bursaries
Astron Energy runs a full Bursary programme which covers each beneath graduate and submit graduate research, from 1st 12 months to Masters Level students.
The bursaries embrace tuition charges, accommodation, books, meals, money allowances and trip work in the form of internship/in-service-training within the company’s operations.
เกจวัดแรงอัดกระบอกสูบ started in 2020 and thus far over 440 students have been funded.
There are at present 196 student bursars and 15 worker bursars as part of this programme. A whole of 26 worker children are part of the bursary programme for 2022.
The bursary covers a variety of research fields this year including:
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 also presents successful bursars the opportunity to be a half 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 current, the company has six apprenticeships in its manufacturing division.
Graduate Programme
The Graduate Internship Programme is run according to the various disciplines required by the business and runs for a period of between 18-24 months. The present intake of Graduate interns is ready 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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