Bleak future for matriculants
GRIM OUTLOOK: POOR ECONOMIC GROWTH WILL RESULT IN MORE PEOPLE UNEMPLOYED
‘Job market is so small you have to take what you can and build yourself up.’
Hundreds of thousands of young adults leaving the cocoon of formal education to either attend a tertiary education institution, or start looking for a job, will be stepping into an economy desperate for growth, but with little place to grow.
“It’s a situation where many people are not going to find a job,” said economist Mike Schussler.
“We’re looking at more than 10 million people currently unemployed in South Africa. Every year, there are about 600 000 new people and with power outages likely, which will make business skittish, government doesn’t have the money to employ more people. There will be ever more people who are unemployed.”
Schussler advised those who found themselves unemployed to “do anything”.
“Get the experience, get the part-time job, get whatever you can, work for free, do whatever you can to get your foot on the ladder,” Schussler said.
“Even graduates are finding it difficult to find employment.”
Technical and standards executive at the South African Institute of Professional Accountants Faith Ngwenya said graduates shouldn’t expect to walk straight into managerial positions with zero experience.
“They get a huge awakening when they are employed as normal staff and they have to work their way up,” Ngwenya said.
“A lot of them will leave such positions or such offers because they are not prepared to work as a junior staff member. It’s the one thing they need to wake up to, the job market is so small at this stage you have to take what you can and build yourself up.”
There were myriad reasons why youngsters didn’t make it to the end of their matric year and Ngwenya also urged them to try for anything which would give experience at something.
“That experience will count for something, even if you were a packer at a retail shop. It gives you a level up over a graduate with no experience,” Ngwenya said.
The Sector Education & Training Authority was also an option for youngsters seeking to further their education and skills, said Ngwenya.
The recently released ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey reported “South African employers report soft hiring intentions for the first quarter of 2020”.
While 10% of employers forecasted an increase in payrolls, 8% anticipated a decrease and 81% expected to make no changes, the report stated.
“Once the data is adjusted to allow for seasonal variation, the outlook stands at +2%, and is the weakest reported in more than five years.”
Lyndy van den Barselaar, managing director of ManpowerGroup SA, said the local economy continued to be affected by subdued economic growth and a sluggish growth outlook.
“Policy uncertainty and a high unemployment rate remain a deep concern for local businesses, which are looking to the new year with caution when it comes to their spending and hiring strategies,” Van den Barselaar said.
The report noted the strongest hiring was forecast in the finance, insurance, real estate and business services sector, with a predicted +9% increase.
“Some hiring opportunities are expected in the wholesale and retail trade sector and the agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing sector, with outlooks of +7% and +5%, respectively, while the restaurants and hotels sector outlook is +4%,” said the report.
“Meanwhile, employers in three sectors expect to trim payrolls, most notably reflected in outlooks of -9% for the construction sector and -6% for the transport, storage and communications sector.”