Youth unemployment soars: A call for urgent action
JOHANNESBURG - As we celebrate Youth Month, young people are asking for more chances to find jobs.
This is because the unemployment rate in the country keeps getting worse.
The Department of Labour recently released new statistics showing that the youth unemployment rate is now at a shocking 46.1 percent.
Many young people are not just looking for jobs; they are also trying to gain skills and knowledge for the careers they want to pursue.
The country is sitting with thousands of graduates who are unemployed because they lack work experience.
But how can they get experience if they are not given a chance to work and learn?
According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey by Statistics South Africa for the first quarter of 2025:
- The number of unemployed youth increased by 151,000, reaching 4.8 million.
- Employed youth decreased by 153,000, now totalling 5.7 million.
- The youth unemployment rate went up from 44.6 percent at the end of 2024 to 46.1 percent in the first quarter of 2025.
Looking at the overall labour market:
- The total number of employed people fell by 291,000, now at 16.8 million.
- The number of unemployed people increased by 237,000, reaching 8.2 million.
- The total labour force decreased by 54,000 during this period.
Additionally:
- Discouraged work-seekers (people who want jobs but have given up looking) increased slightly by 7,000.
- The number of people not working for reasons other than discouragement rose by 177,000, making the total not economically active population grow by 184,000 to 16.7 million.
by Tshenolo Khaile
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In a country grappling with high unemployment rates, companies often use experience even in entry-level positions to narrow down the applicant pool, particularly when faced with a large number of applications. Image: Olia Danilevich / Pexels Some 10 million South Africans – the younger generation of between 15 and 24 years of age – face the highest barriers to entering the workforce, with unemployment figures significantly outpacing that of older youth. Recent research by Statistics South Africa showed that half of all those between 15 and 24 were unemployed in 2015. Ten years later, and this number has jumped to 62.4%. For all youngsters aged 25 to 34, the rate increased from 31.4% to 40.4% over the same period, the agency said. In 2015, the unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 34 was 36.9%. A decade later, it had jumped 9.2 percentage points. Stats SA sheds light on a key issue within this crisis, youth with experience outperform youth without experience by a margin of 4 to 1. Initiatives such as experiential learning, apprenticeships, or other forms of exposure to the workplace have far-reaching implications in addressing the scourge of youth unemployment. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ However, even after graduating and going through an internship, it's not guaranteed that the graduates will remain employed. Candidates who were not absorbed by companies during their training go back to the job-seeking pool and encounter challenges of having to meet certain levels of experience to be considered. In a country grappling with high unemployment rates, companies often use experience even in entry-level positions to narrow down the applicant pool, particularly when faced with a large number of applications. This approach, motivated by the goal of sifting through extensive applicant pools to identify top-performing candidates, can be disheartening for those stepping into the workforce for the first time. Essentially, demanding experience for entry-level positions creates an obstacle for those who haven't yet had the chance to acquire it. A 2022 graph from Stats SA indicates that 12.3 percent of the youth with work experience are more likely to move from unemployment into jobs outperforming the 7.4 percent of experienced adults Image: Supplied Speaking to IOL, Senelwe Mthembu, a researcher from the University of Johannesburg (UJ) working in the Community and Social Development Agency (CSDA) said in 2025, there was an increase in the proportion of Education, Employment or Training (NEET) youth who have a matric and other qualifications but are still unemployed, meaning higher levels of education don't always translate to smoother transitions into the labour market. "While education levels are important, they are insufficient on their own. Furthermore, work experience is a key factor for employers and significantly reduces the odds of being long-term unemployed. So, despite young people actively seeking employment and completing more years of schooling, new entrants are struggling to access the labour market. "The youth unemployment crisis certainly indicates that first-time job seekers are disadvantaged and face particular challenges in accessing the labour market. We need a better understanding of the skills requirements for these entry-level jobs from the perspective of employers, we need to ensure that the schooling system adequately prepares young people to transition from school to work, that learnerships, apprenticeships and internships are aligned with actual job opportunities and that overall, there is better coordination between the supply and demand side," she said. Mthembu said the NEET youth are available to work, want to work and are actively searching for jobs, they are engaging in other livelihood strategies and activities through youth programmes that boost their soft skills. "Even when young people do all that they can to improve their odds, they face multiple deprivations and barriers such as (income poverty, the high cost of work seeking, care responsibilities, lack of social networks, etc.), and so the entire ecosystem needs to be more supportive and enabling. "For this reason, the private sector needs to be engaged further and play a more meaningful role in actively recruiting young people. The narrative needs to shift beyond what young people can do, to other stakeholders can do to facilitate narrowing the divide between young job seekers and the job market," she said. To bridge the gap, Mthembu said the private sector needs to be more intentional about absorbing young people into stable opportunities beyond the internship period. Meanwhile, the government could also think about supporting more youth involvement in the informal sector while still ensuring that safety nets exist for those participating in less stable livelihood strategies. On the other hand, Protec CEO, Balan Moodley, said to support the youth to find their way in the face of limited opportunities, people who live or work with youth can help them to find their purpose by working with them through their values, abilities and interests and by encouraging them to make a difference within their communities. "Whatever can be done to build the confidence and skills of our young people, whatever their level of education, can be done by all – parents, family, teachers, community leaders, organisations, corporates, NPOs and others. It's possible to inspire and encourage where life has become disheartening; it's crucial to guide and support, finding avenues for small entrepreneurships or building businesses; and it's necessary to remind our youth to be curious, to be persistent, and to remember that someone is rooting for them," he said. Protec is a non-profit organisation that focuses on addressing critically scarce skills particularly in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Between 2004 and 2024, 7 out of 9 provinces experienced a decline in the proportion of discouraged youths. Image: Supplied
