Why Matric & University Grads of South Africans Are Still Unemployed

Education is often called the great equalizer. In South Africa, millions of young people strive to complete Grade 12, or Matric. The rest go to university, universities of technology, TVET colleges and other further education institutions. For many families, a Matric qualification or university degree is the result of years of sacrifice, financial strain and hope.

Despite this, many South Africans are unable to find a permanent job after they have finished their studies.

They remain unemployed for years, or take up a temporary, low-paid, informal, or sometimes agricultural job, which may have little to do with their field of study.

Here lies a deeper question to ask: How can it be possible for a person to do Matric or university and be unemployed? We do not have an answer for you here and it is not an easy one because unemployment has to do with the economy, education system, jobs available, location, work experience, skills, technology. The tough transition between education and the job market.

Another reason is that there is not enough employment for all those entering the labour market. Every year thousands of young people complete school, colleges and universities and enter the job market. They are also competing for jobs with the growing number of people who are already in the job market but cannot find work.

Unemployment is related to economic growth.

When economic growth is slow, operating costs are high, business confidence is low and demand for goods and services is weak, companies are unlikely to create many new jobs.

One additional issue is that qualifications do not match employment. A student may have studied a specific course for years thinking it will lead them to a job. However, they graduate years later and by then the labour market could have changed.

In industries there may be fewer vacancies than hoped or in others a lot more.

A person can be qualified but not ready to be employable; ready in the skills employers want.

Matric does not guarantee employment. Matric is a vital step but employers often expect other skills, such as NQF-structured qualifications, technical skills, computer skills, communication skills, licences or work experience. A young person who has just left school may assume that they will find a job until they start to look and see that competition is stiff for the lowest entry-level jobs.

The other side of the coin is faced by university graduates. A degree is no longer a passport to work. South African universities produce graduates in a wide variety of areas, but there are not sufficient positions in the economy for them all, so competition is intense.

A graduate might have to compete with hundreds of other applicants for each job.

Employers may also have a preference for applicants with experience – thus the frustrating “experience trap”: young people are told they need experience to get a job. Can’t gain experience because they don’t have a job.

Geography. The location of work is also crucial. South Africa is a big country with huge variations in wealth, between cities and towns and across rural areas. There are lots of jobs in big economic hubs like Johannesburg and Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban, Gqeberha and other urban centres.

A graduate who lives in a rural community will have a qualification but hardly any employers in their vicinity.

Relocating to a new city is costly as the person would require funds to travel, find housing, buy food and cover other essentials before earning a salary.

Transport can pose a barrier. Picture a young person who gets a chance to go to the city for a job interview, but cannot afford the transport to get there. The job goes begging because the young person is qualified but the transport is not! Even when they get a job, travelling long distances each day can take the bulk of a low salary.

Another problem is work experience. Some employers list jobs that require one, two or three years’ work experience when in fact they are an entry-level position. This puts young graduates at a disadvantage, as they have finished their studies but have not formally been in a workplace. While internships and learnerships can be beneficial, they are limited in number.

The labour market is also affected by technology and automation. Companies are increasingly using computers, software, machinery, artificial intelligence and automated processes to carry out tasks that used to need lots of people. Technology can lead to new jobs but it can also lower the number of traditional jobs that are available. Workers need to update their skills.

Another key issue is the relevance and quality of education: Completing exams does not necessarily equip learners with the work-specific skills they need in the workplace, particularly if learners have been largely trained to pass examinations. Graduates in many countries do not have the right skills for the workplace, such as problem-solving, teamwork, communication, digital competency, flexibility, or practical technical skills.

This is where technical and vocational education has much to offer. South Africa requires both high-quality vocational education and college graduates for technical jobs. Yet vocational careers are often held to be less worthwhile than those that require a university degree. This perception can drive young people to pursue academic achievements when their interests or opportunities are more aligned with technical work.

There are intriguing issues around education and agriculture. We should not assume that a university graduate employed on a farm is necessarily a failure. Farming is a significant contributor to the economy and needs university-trained people in managerial, financial, engineering, animal science, crop, environmental management, marketing, and technological roles. The problem comes when someone with skills accepts low-paid farm labour because there are no other opportunities in other fields and they cannot find jobs related to their education.

In some cases, informal employment is the only option. They might bring in some income through selling items on the street, doing odd construction jobs, doing domestic work, driving for money, or doing short-term agricultural work. While they may bring in much-needed income and are a sign of the person’s perseverance, it may not provide the job security, social benefits, career advancement, or income that the person was expecting to get after school.

Social and economic inequality has a major impact. Two students can receive the same qualification, but will have a very different start to life once the qualification has been achieved. One will have a family contact, a car, financial support for accommodation, a professional contact and can afford to work unpaid for months at a time.

The other will need to contribute financially to their family straight away and will not be able to relocate to another city or take an unpaid internship.

Qualifications do not work in a vacuum; economic factors are a determinant in the ability to find work.

Networking can also affect job prospects. Many jobs are advertised on open job boards. Personal and professional networks can help people learn about job openings, get recommendations or references, or be introduced to potential employers. Less-well-off young people may have fewer professional networks in some industries because their family and community members have had less exposure to them.

Corruption and politically-motivated recruitment are a further concern in South African society. Where allegations of personal favours, favouritism, fraud and other unfair recruitment practices tarnish the perception of the labour market, there is widespread frustration when people believe that it is not qualifications and ability that make the difference.

So the answer is not just to tell young people to ‘get a degree’. Education is a good thing. But education has to be more closely linked to the world of work.

We can do this by improving career advice so that young people know more about what different jobs are like before they choose their next course.

We can build stronger links between universities, colleges and employers so that students get internships, work experience and real, live work. And we can create more first jobs in real businesses rather than expecting young people to already have five years’ experience.

The other way to go is to become an entrepreneur, but this is not simply a case of offering easier alternatives to employment. Setting up shop needs capital, customers, skills, infrastructure, financial management, an enabling environment. Governments and financial institutions can help viable small entrepreneurs by providing training, finance, infrastructure and markets.

In the end, the challenge of educated unemployment is not that education has no significance at all. It is that there is a significant gap between education and the labour market. Holding a Matric certificate can certainly provide access to opportunities, but it cannot act as assurance that there are enough opportunities. A university qualification can provide knowledge and skills but not if there are no opportunities to utilize them.

So South Africa needs an economy that can absorb that educated workforce. It needs more jobs, relevant education and skills, entrepreneurship, investment, infrastructure, and access to opportunities. And our young people need honest career guidance and some opportunities to get experience while studying.

That image of a graduate walking out of university with a university qualification and no job to show for it is indicative of a much broader social and economic problem. There is a person behind every graduate who cannot find work, perhaps who has studied for years, who may have placed a financial burden on a family or who was hoping for a brighter future. It is not to stop studying. South Africa needs more links between what people learn, what employers need and the number of jobs that exist in the economy.

What can the government do about this?

The government can help medium-sized businesses to start, grow and keep people in jobs. This involves over-regulation and excessive bureaucracy, but it must solve the double problem: getting people work-ready and creating more real jobs.

1. Create more jobs through economic growth

Government can facilitate business growth – in particular for small and medium-sized firms, which create the most jobs – by removing unnecessary administrative burdens, ensuring reliable power and transport and investing in infrastructure.

2. Link education directly to employment

Colleges and schools need to build relationships with employers. Before opening up a new programme, government could evaluate whether skill shortages exist.

In addition, children in school should be given clearer guidance about job prospects and the benefits of learning the skill sets which are in demand.

3. Expand apprenticeships and learnerships

One of the most serious issues young graduates face is the requirement for previous work experience. The government can partner with business to expand greatly the number of paid apprenticeships, internships and learnerships.

Rather than graduating from university with only a qualification, they could leave with:

A qualification
Practical workplace experience
Industry-specific skills
References
Professional connections

That would smooth the step from a short-term contract into a regular position.

4. Place a greater emphasis on TVET and technical skills.

South Africa requires electricians, plumbers, welders, mechanics, builders, agricultural technicians, machine operators, artisans and technicians and not necessarily university graduates.

If TVET colleges offer up-to-date equipment, competent teachers and real workplace exposure, they could offer a far more effective route into employment.

The government also has a role to play in correcting the view that university qualifications are always more valuable than trade qualifications.

5. Make government procurement support employment

Government spends huge amounts of money on buying goods and services. When feasible and allowed by law, procurement programmes can provide opportunities to qualifying South African small businesses and cooperatives.

For instance, instead of a major contract providing benefits solely for an established firm, aspects of the project could generate opportunities for small local companies, apprentices and other workers.

6. Develop rural economies

Continued migration to cities. Job growth in the form of emerging industries, is likely to occur mainly in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban, resulting in even more people rushing to the cities for work.

Ways in which government can invest in the rural economy are:

Agriculture and agro-processing
Renewable energy
Tourism
Manufacturing
Forestry
Food production
Digital services

It should not be just to make farm workers. In fact the rural areas could do well without menials, but they could do with the intelligentsia of agriculture as well.

7. Help graduates become entrepreneurs

You will not get a job if you graduate. Government can assist people with promising business concepts to start their own business by offering training and guidance and providing access to markets and finance.

But entrepreneurship must not be a way of escaping from having to create jobs. Telling millions of unemployed people to start a business when you do not provide them with customers, capital and the right infrastructure is simply not enough.

8. Improve public employment programmes

Temporary work schemes may also help people to earn money and build skills and experience. However, the government should ensure that these schemes also give people relevant skills and pathways into permanent work where possible.

Year after year, someone should not be caught in a temporary job without learning skills that better their future.

9. Address corruption and unfair recruitment

Transparent and merit-based recruitment processes in state institutions must be institutionalised. Job openings must be filled based on objective need, merit and ability rather than through political patronage, nepotism and bribery.

Public-sector recruitment must also be watched very closely because people don’t trust that qualifications matter.

10. Improve infrastructure

Investing in infrastructure, of course, can be a win-win: creating jobs and providing better conditions for business.

Government can prioritise projects involving:
Electricity
Water
Roads
Rail
Broadband
Housing
Schools
Hospitals
Public transport

Good infrastructure can also help individuals to participate in work outside the main metro areas.

11. Make better use of graduates

South Africa already has millions of educated citizens. Government needs to identify which skilled people are in demand and put in place an infrastructure to link those skills with real shortages.

For example, if the farmers need skilled workers, or rural schools require teachers, or local governments need technicians, or farmers need qualified graduates, programmes can help get unemployed people into these opportunities.

12. Measure whether programmes actually work

Most crucial of all, government should set the results to be achieved rather than prescribe the programmes to be followed.

To make such services a reality, government should be able to deliver on the following for each major youth employment program:

How many signed up to the programme? How many got permanent work afterwards? What skills did they learn? How much did it cost to place each candidate?

This would facilitate the scaling-up of programmes that work, and the dismantling of programmes that don’t.

The bigger issue

The government will not be able to address unemployment by simply handing out more certificates. South Africa needs an economy that can generate enough productive opportunities to accommodate its educational outputs.

A strong approach would therefore combine:

Better schools, relevant qualifications, practical experience, business growth, investment, job creation and permanent employment.

If they stay broken, South Africans will be able to keep earning Matric certificates, diplomas and degrees, even if it becomes impossible to find a job.

The aim cannot be just to spruce up unemployment figures.

A qualification needs to be so much more than a certificate on the wall. It should be a road towards being able to apply that knowledge and grow your skills, to earning a dignified, sustainable income. To making a valuable contribution to society. Until that link is made, South Africans with Matrics, diplomas, certificates. Degrees will continue to live the painful fact that they are educated but unemployed – or forced to accept jobs far below what they are qualified to do.