Strategic skills revolution can shift youth unemployment

SA is at the edge of a profound economic transition. The question before us is: how do we ensure our young people are not left behind? In his State of the Nation Address, President Cyril Ramaphosa issued a clear challenge: “SA needs a skills revolution.” SA Youth— SA’s largest online youth recruitment platform — is responding to this challenge with expediency.

A revolution is indeed needed, not just a slogan but a deliberate and fundamental redesign of our skills systems to develop talent for an economy changing faster than our institutions can keep up. While the class of 2025 earned well-deserved praise — with a record 88% matric pass rate and rising Bachelor passes — a matric certificate is still not enough to guarantee a livelihood. Education matters — but it is no longer enough.

Only 5% of job postings accept applicants without a matric, and even graduates face high unemployment rates. Young people are doing more of what is asked of them, while the economy fails to meet them halfway. Young people are entering an economy reshaped by technology, geopolitics, demographics and the climate transition.

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The gap between talent and opportunity is growing, not shrinking. This must be closed — and practical solutions already exist. TheSA Youthplatform serves a network of 5-million youth and 3,000 employer partners, with 2.2-million recorded earning opportunities — of which 8% are net new jobs the platform helped create.

Most of these opportunities are in the services sector. In a country with few formal sector jobs, the services sector offers more doorways to opportunity. It accounts for two-thirds of GDP and already absorbs a large share of young workers.

Importantly, these sectors offer opportunities that are accessible, scalable and future-relevant. With the right investments, they can become the backbone of a youth economy — if we invest in job quality, market-responsive skilling and credentialing, connectivity, industrial policy alignment and employer participation. While reform of the skills system is crucial, employers sit at the centre of this shift. Without their participation in identifying demand, co‑designing curricula and co‑financing pathways, the skills system will always lag behind the labour market.

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