Graduate unemployment in a skills-short economy bedevils growth

By Nicola Jenvey. South Africa has a glaring disparity between its higher education system and the workplace, an issue that can only further harm an economy struggling to absorb its youth and grow in line with its BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – trading bloc partners.
Many graduates cannot find employment – tragically, in an economy facing major problems relating to scarce skills. In short, there is a mismatch between the graduates produced and the skills required to shift South Africa into the next economic gear.
South African Graduates Development Association (SAGDA) CEO Thamsanqa Maqubela said graduate unemployment – defined as that among people with a minimum three-year academic or vocational qualification – had escalated since the global economic recession.
Depending on which statistics are considered, South Africa has between 255,000 (Statistics South Africa Labour Force Survey 2009) and 600,000 (Adcorp labour market analyst Loane Sharp 2011) unemployed graduates. More...