RAVI NAIDOO & CAS COOVADIA: Quality jobs are part of the answer to unemployment
We need jobs that have a multiplier effect down the line, especially in future-facing industries
We’ve become so accustomed to SA’s unnaturally high unemployment rate that we celebrate when it declines to 34%. We’re unmoved by articles that talk of a “ticking time bomb” and “jobs bloodbath”. But behind the dry statistics and anguished analysis lies a human tragedy that will ultimately affect us all, whether we like it or not.
According to Stats SA’s quarterly labour force survey for the second quarter of the year there was a slight decrease in the official unemployment rate, which now stands at 33.9%, with 648,000 jobs gained in the period. Though this seems hopeful, do not be lulled into a false sense of security: two out of three South Africans between the ages of 15 and 34 are still unemployed. Earlier this week Stats SA reported a fall of 119,000 jobs in SA’s formal nonagricultural sector for the three months to end-June...
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