Even as South Africa slowly emerges from the suffocating economic grip of the Covid-19 pandemic, recently launched employment statistics continue to make for grim studying, with almost eight million people unemployed.
South Africa actually recorded improved financial exercise in the fourth quarter of 2021, including an growth in real GDP of 1.2% compared to the earlier quarter, however unemployment nonetheless reached report ranges.
Denice Dumisa
According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS), unemployment in Q4 final yr rose to 35.3% from 34.9% within the previous quarter. เกจวัดแรงดันสูง is the best level since the begin of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey in 2008.
Even more alarmingly, the youth unemployment rate stood at a staggering 65.5%.
The latest employment data was released on the finish of March by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), and got here simply days after South Africa managed to draw R1.2 trillion in funding through the fourth South Africa Investment Conference.
Analysts have described the country’s economy as “producing jobless growth” and consider that even with upward financial development within the medium term, South Africa will still have an total unemployment determine of around 30%.
Youth unemployment is a global problem, much more acutely pronounced in South Africa, where the most recent figures are sounding crucial alarm bells.
In late 2021, Stats SA reported that two out of each three younger folks underneath the age of 35 in South Africa are unemployed. For the age cohort underneath 25, this rises to a few out of each 4, or a jarring 75%.
But in and amongst the dire unemployment statistics there are rays of sunshine on how to start to effectively address this socio-economic crisis.
Education is essential
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 under matric.
This variety of unemployed drops the upper the training degree. Those with a Matric cross represent 38.6% of unemployed and this determine drops substantially for these with other tertiary qualifications (6.9%) and graduates who represent only 2.4% of South Africa’s formal unemployed.
Astron Energy’s Organisational Capability, Learning and Development Manager Lindiwe Ncongwane said: “It is an typically repeated mantra that education is the key to success, but the labour drive survey definitely bears this out.
“Education allied to opportunity 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 sites together with the Caltex brand, runs numerous Youth Development Programmes overlaying both tutorial help and workplace and experiential learning 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 people with different qualifications to assist reduce the number of unemployed, and likewise to help build a era of employable younger people.
“Investments in training and abilities improvement, allied to schooling qualifications, will help construct a workforce that is multi-skilled and able to adapt to a mess of tasks and industries,” she said.
The 2020 Future of Work report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) discovered that 50% of all workers will want reskilling by 2025 as adoption of technology will increase.
The report additionally listed crucial thinking and problem-solving as leading abilities employers consider will be needed over the following 5 years, whereas newer trends centre on self-management expertise such as lively learning, resilience, stress tolerance and suppleness.
According to Ncongwane, a key a part of Astron Energy’s focus is to equip young people for the world of work, not only at Astron Energy and the petrochemical trade, but the across a variety of disciplines to enable them to be globally competitive.
The firm also runs numerous school-level initiatives in the STEM house, however according to the 4th Industrial Revolution’s focus on the 3Cs of Communication, Critical considering and Collaboration, has broadened this to STEAM – Science, Technology, Arts and Maths – in a bid to develop problem-solving and process-based studying.
The means forward
“As a rustic, we now have to continue investing in the training of our young folks, significantly in the critical abilities area, and then create opportunities for them to apply these abilities and develop in workplace environments,” Ncongwane said.
“As corporates we have to design a variety of programmes and initiatives to meet not solely the needs of the enterprise, but additionally the means forward for work – and critically the future employment prospects for our younger folks.
“If we do this right, we will begin altering the outlook on the employment entrance and be sure that financial development has a tangible impression on the futures and livelihoods of the generations to return.”
In the Youth Development house, Astron Energy runs the next 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 under graduate and publish graduate research, from 1st 12 months to Masters Level college students.
The bursaries embrace tuition fees, accommodation, books, meals, cash allowances and vacation work within the type of internship/in-service-training throughout the company’s operations.
The programme started in 2020 and so far over 440 college students have been funded.
There are at present 196 pupil bursars and 15 employee bursars as part of this programme. A complete of 26 worker youngsters are a part of the bursary programme for 2022.
The bursary covers a range of examine 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 additionally presents profitable bursars the opportunity to be a half of the Astron Energy Graduate Training programme.
Apprenticeships
Astron Energy presents 24-month Apprenticeships in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering and Instrumentation on 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 assorted disciplines required by the business 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 77 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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