Jessica Hawkey, redAcademy

South Africa is in a labour market quandary. Many sectors of our economy are stunted by skills shortages, but our unemployment rate – which at the start of 2024 stood at around 32% – is the highest in the world. We have people who need work, but these people don’t have the skills needed to do the job. What’s the cause of this skills disjuncture? It’s complicated.

Let’s look at education. In some cases, the skills being taught aren’t on par with market requirements, says Lindsay Cowan, co-founder and CEO at One Degree. The net effect of this is that when students complete their education journey, they are largely unprepared for what is actually required to succeed in the job market. In cases where the standard of education has been dropped to boost graduation rates, it’s unsurprising that job seekers aren’t competent enough for the position. In line with this, there remains a gap between education and the practical application of skills, which means that employees lack the experience to succeed in critical positions.