SNE MAGAGULA | Innovation needed to help create jobs for the youth

This Youth Month we reflect on our country’s young people, many of whom are feeling disheartened, disengaged and demotivated. And who can blame them?

A perfect storm is raging across the world that is having a tangible impact on all of us. In SA, we suffer the dual effects of global events, compounded by a great many local challenges. While we work through these – recovery – we are reminded, will be slow.

Our youth are impacted the most by our current circumstances but ironically are our country’s greatest asset. According to Statistics SA, unemployment among 25- to 35-year-olds rose to 39.9% in the first quarter of this year. To put it into perspective, close to eight million young people, some of them with a higher education qualifications, are economically inactive.

It’s with this doom and gloom in mind that I am imploring all of us to dig deep to find the right actions and words to offer some hope to our young people. 

Our youth, more than any other segment of the population, has the passion and power to shape a better future for our country. We only need look to history past and present to appreciate the power of a mobilised youth as a catalyst for social change. Here at home, we arguably have some of the most powerful examples.

Many will attest that what transpired in June 1976, the historic event we pay homage to this month, demonstrates the might of young people to change the trajectory of an entire nation for the better.

Their actions continue to bear positive testimony today. Fast-forward nearly four decades when a national student movement, Fees Must Fall, brought the halls of power to pause and compelled powerful leaders to listen and meet the demand for better and more affordable education. Little more is needed to concede what can be achieved when young minds are guided, offered direction and nurtured.

Today’s young generation are entrepreneurial, innovative and connected. They understand the challenges we are all faced with and that they need to be addressed through a holistic view of the world that considers purpose, people, planet and profit. Most are technologically equipped and interconnected to help develop future-fit solutions to these challenges.

The problem, however, is that we are not fully tapping into our youth’s potential. There is a need for us to engage young people purposefully to unlock and enable their contribution and worth. A collaborative effort between public and private sectors will realise an effective impact.  

Much has been, and continues to be, done at a national level through government programmes and initiatives to provide sustained opportunities for young people to actively participate in the economy. And the public and private sectors have joined forces to strengthen support. An excellent example of a public and private partnership to achieve this is "YES", the Youth Employment Service.

However, for more young people to benefit, the private sector must amplify its initiatives and programmes, and others must begin fast-tracking and channelling resources towards supporting youth.

Exemplary of our support for youth is the Tiger Brands Future Leaders Development Programme, our flagship graduate development programme designed to nurture the next generation of technically and commercially sound leaders. The programme supports graduates in the areas of engineering, marketing, IT, customer, supply chain and finance (CA) through a70/20/10 principle – 70% of their time is spent building core skills and competencies with exposure to critical work projects.

Twenty percent is dedicated to mentorship and 10% to formal training delivered by our academy of learning. This programme is complemented by our learnership, apprenticeship, internship and workplace experience student programmes, which go a long way towards giving youth, who may not have formal qualifications beyond schooling, much-needed access to skills development and ultimately absorption into employment or entrepreneurial opportunities in or outside our organisation.

Our accelerated talent and leadership development programmes also support these young people, once they start their careers with us, to balance their technical and commercial skills with the leadership capabilities required to shape the future and culture of the organisation. The objective is democratising access to skills and opportunity for our company, the industry, the country and the continent.

Magagula is chief human resources officer at Tiger Brands