Article provided by JobStarter
South Africa’s longstanding high youth unemployment rate has reached crisis point: 63,3% of young people are now unemployed. To exacerbate the challenge, larger enterprises and multi-nationals are cutting jobs because of tough economic conditions. While the current situation is dire, it presents an opportunity for the SME sector to amplify its contribution to youth employment and the country’s general economic recovery. We believe the SME sector has incredible potential to help resolve South Africa’s youth unemployment challenge by providing much-needed opportunities, products and services.
Most of the young work-seekers do not possess the skills and work experience demanded by employers in the labour market. The economy demands skilled and experienced work-seekers, which often means young people are precluded from opportunities.
Overcoming the youth unemployment crisis requires a coordinated approach. To that end, JobStarter would like to invite you to collaborate with us and co-create a solution that will make it easier for SMEs to gain FREE access to South Africa’s young talent pool, in an efficient and reliable manner. By completing this survey, you will be guiding JobStarter towards possible solutions that you feel will contribute to minimising youth unemployment.
- What are the top 5 character or personality traits you look for when hiring?
- If you were to fill a position with a work-ready young person, how would you describe that person?
- If you have recruited young people in the past, what were your biggest frustrations?
- Which are some of the risks you associate with hiring young talent?
- What kind of support would you like to see when youth are placed within your organisation?
- What incentive would encourage you to invest in young talent?
- What do you know about the various government regulated skills incentives?
- If you were to be given a blank canvas to design your ideal digital recruitment platform for entry level youth, what would it include?
- What would convince you to fill some of your entry level opportunities with young talent?
- If you were to articulate one solution for youth unemployment, what would that be?
Click here to complete the survey
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