Faced with dwindling employment opportunities, school-leavers can equip themselves with new short-course skills and learnerships in 4IR (Fourth Industrial Revolution) fields that will set them up for long-term careers. At the end of each year, as the South African education system churns out hundreds of thousands of school-leavers with an uncertain future and ever-decreasing prospects of finding meaningful careers in a country facing tough economic times, Matrics are faced with bleak prospects of finding employment in 2023.
Compounding the ‘perfect storm’ of a declining manufacturing sector, government economic policy failures resulting in load-shedding and a subsequent flight of investment during a global economic crisis, the prohibitive costs of tertiary education at a University or a higher learning institution require many years of study and makes it impossible for most.
According to the latest Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) figures, unemployment re- mains unacceptably high at 33,9% with the number of unemployed being in excess of 8-million people. When viewed against the fact that more than 755 000 matrics will write the 2022 year-end exam and enter the workforce next year, only 648 000 new jobs were created in Q2. The youth unemployment rate, measuring job-seekers be- tween 15 and 24 years old, fell to 61.4% in the second quarter of 2022, the lowest in almost two years, putting these dismal figures into perspective.
The Department of Higher Education and Training recently released a list of the top 100 scarce skill occupations in the country. On this list, the usual suspects such as engineers, accountants, health professionals and architects were listed. University entrance requirements for most of these programmes are very high, and places are limited. If a student is able to make it onto one of these programmes, it subsequently requires many years of undergraduate and postgraduate study to gain entry into the profession. All factors considered, it's not altogether surprising that there is such a deficit of these skills in South Africa.
However, a surprisingly large number of occupations on this list don't require years of study to enter the profession. Included in the list are professions such as Business Analysts, Project Managers, Software Developers, Computer Network Technicians and many more. To be clear, it's not that these professions don't require a high level of skill and competence to meet the needs of employers, but rather that they don't require years of study just to get a foot in the door to start climbing the proverbial ladder.
For individuals currently trying to decide what to study to prepare themselves for the employment market, it becomes clear that they don't necessarily have to choose a path that requires many years of study to gain the skills and knowledge that are desperately needed in demand by employers. The cost of labour for most professions is largely determined by supply and demand, and if an individual chooses a profession that is in high demand by industry, with limited supply from the labour market, they can expect to earn a premium.
For Matrics entering the job market in 2023: With a number of short-courses designed to equip school leavers with the necessary skills to embark upon an exciting, well-paid and much-sought-after career in fields that often do not attract many entrants, Sisekelo Institute of Business & Technology offers affordable, accredited short-courses specialising in scarce and critical skills.
Founder and Director Sabelo Myeni is the driving force behind Sisekelo Institute of Business & Technology. He is on a mission to ensure that South African youths and graduates are equipped for the modern workplace with the skills that will not only make them sought-after, but ensure that these skills lead to placement with companies paying good salaries.
“School-leavers can give their job prospects a serious boost,” says Sabelo, “by enrolling with Sisekelo. The courses are also ideal for large companies looking to up-skill their existing workforce,” he says, urging larger corporates to contact him for learnership options, and bespoke training for existing corporate workforces. For more about Sisekelo Institute of Business and Technology, visit:
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About Sisekelo Institute of Business & Technology's
Sisekelo Institute of Business and Technology offers courses and learnerships ranging from Generic Management, Administration, Project Management Business and Data Science, Software Development to Artificial Intelligence, Coding and Cybersecurity. The Institute is accredited with numerous training bodies like Services SETA, MICTSETA, Microsoft as well as the globally-recognised EC-Council Accreditation for Cybersecurity. The Institute also plans to offer degree courses.
Note to Producers/Editors: Sabelo Myeni is available for television/radio/print interviews about how scarce and critical skills and technology can create employment, alleviate skills shortages and how companies can up-skill their current workforce with these skills to keep the companies relevant and profitable. ——— Media Enquiries: Nomsa Mdhluli at Tishala Communications - 071 628 6231 or nomsa@tsihalacommunications.com Roy Bannister at Tishala Communications - 082 468 8622 or roy@tishalacommunications.com
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