A basic qualification is no longer enough for graduates seeking jobs
Pearson South Africa added their thoughts on how to alleviate youth unemployment in the country to both graduates and companies.
According to Head of People at Pearson South Africa, Ruth Shogoe, employability has evolved over the years which results in graduates needing more than a basic qualification to secure a job.
Stats SA 2022 Q1’s report on unemployment said South Africa has a working-age population of 40 million where youth between 15 and 34 years old account for 51.6%, yet the youth unemployment rate continues to suppress opportunity. Youth unemployment in the country remains one of the biggest obstacles to economic success.
“Historically, one would merely need to obtain a skill and an academic qualification to gain the advantage of job security,” Shogoe said.
“In this day employability means to have potential and attributes that are viewed as value-adding or multi-potentiality and is dependent on how desirable an employee is in the workplace.”
The Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) reported unemployment to be at 32.6% in Q1, whilst the youth unemployment rate stood at 46.3% which shows that while the youth unemployment rate has declined year on year, the rate has had an upward trend. Graduates make up 9.3% of the percentage.
“A lot of our graduates tend to wait for the perfect opportunity, and this is an unrealistic expectation. Employability and job security work hand-in-hand, and job security is about what you do with opportunity, not the opportunity itself,” said Shogoe.
She added that a career path should be rooted in passion, and not in popularity.
“Often, there is pressure to go with the popular and fancy career routes where quick financial gain is the end goal. As a student, before choosing a career, I would ask myself ‘what is the one thing I would passionately do for the rest of my life without getting paid to do it’.”
Two ways in which graduates can portray themselves valuable in the workforce to secure job opportunities include the following:
- going the extra mile to gain an added skill, work on voluntary projects, harness their soft skills, implement entrepreneurial initiatives and have a growth mind-set
- adopt a mind-set that does not despise humble beginnings as the journey to the ideal career gets easier once one is absorbed in the labour market
With a number of Pearson Graduate Institutes throughout the country, including one just outside the Kyalami area, there are a number of graduate development programmes that aid to the success of graduates getting employed.
Bonginkosi Mchunu was part of the programme and is now a current key manager at Pearson in Kwa-Zulu Natal.
“It offered me an opportunity to work with all the departments in the organisation, which enabled me to better understand the business and the connectedness of things,” he said.
Shogoe concluded that organisations should follow this lead and create opportunities through internship and graduate programmes.
“Our young people are the future of our country. Not investing in young people is not investing in the future of this country.”
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