Even as South Africa slowly emerges from the suffocating financial grip of the Covid-19 pandemic, recently launched employment statistics proceed to make for grim reading, with almost eight million individuals unemployed.
South Africa truly recorded improved economic exercise in the fourth quarter of 2021, including an expansion in real GDP of 1.2% in comparability with the previous quarter, but unemployment nonetheless reached record levels.
Denice Dumisa

According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS), unemployment in Q4 final yr rose to 35.3% from 34.9% within the previous quarter. This is the best degree because the start of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey in 2008.
Even more alarmingly, the youth unemployment price stood at a staggering sixty five.5%.
The newest employment data was released at the end of March by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), and got here simply days after South Africa managed to draw R1.2 trillion in investment through the fourth South Africa Investment Conference.
Analysts have described the country’s economy as “producing jobless growth” and imagine that even with upward economic development in the medium term, South Africa will nonetheless have an overall unemployment determine of around 30%.
Youth unemployment is a world concern, even more acutely pronounced in South Africa, the place the newest figures are sounding important alarm bells.
In late 2021, Stats SA reported that two out of every three young people under the age of 35 in South Africa are unemployed. For the age cohort underneath 25, this rises to a few out of each four, or a jarring 75%.
But in and amongst the dire unemployment statistics there are rays of sunshine on tips on how to begin to effectively handle this socio-economic crisis.
Education is vital

According to the QLFS report, of the 7,9 million unemployed persons within the fourth quarter of 2021, as many as fifty one,6% had education levels beneath matric.
This variety of unemployed drops the upper the training level. Those with a Matric cross represent 38.6% of unemployed and this figure drops substantially for these with other tertiary qualifications (6.9%) and graduates who represent solely 2.4% of South Africa’s formal unemployed.
Astron Energy’s Organisational Capability, Learning and Development Manager Lindiwe Ncongwane stated: “It is an often repeated mantra that training is the key to success, but the labour force survey definitely bears this out.
“Education allied to opportunity is the golden key to breaking this cycle of unemployment and to create a future for younger individuals within the country.”

Astron Energy, which operates South Africa’s second largest network of retail websites including the Caltex model, runs a selection of Youth Development Programmes covering each tutorial support and workplace and experiential studying alternatives.
Astron Energy’s Youth Development Programmes include:
Learnerships

Bursaries

Apprenticeships

In-Service-Training

Graduate Internship Programme

Opportunities

According to Ncongwane, South African Corporates have a key role to play in providing alternatives for graduates and those with different qualifications to help cut back the variety of unemployed, and also to assist construct a technology of employable young folks.
“Investments in coaching and abilities improvement, allied to schooling qualifications, will help build a workforce that is multi-skilled and able to adapt to a mess of tasks and industries,” she said.
The 2020 Future of Work report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) found that 50% of all workers will want reskilling by 2025 as adoption of technology will increase.
The report additionally listed critical thinking and problem-solving as main abilities employers consider might be wanted over the next five years, while newer developments centre on self-management abilities such as energetic learning, resilience, stress tolerance and suppleness.
According to Ncongwane, a key a half of Astron Energy’s focus is to equip younger individuals for the world of work, not only at Astron Energy and the petrochemical business, but the across a range of disciplines to allow them to be globally aggressive.
The firm also runs numerous school-level initiatives in the STEM house, but according to the 4th Industrial Revolution’s concentrate on the 3Cs of Communication, Critical pondering and Collaboration, has broadened this to STEAM – Science, Technology, Arts and Maths – in a bid to develop problem-solving and process-based studying.
The means forward

“As a country, we now have to continue investing in the training of our young individuals, notably in the important skills space, and then create alternatives for them to apply these skills and develop in workplace environments,” Ncongwane mentioned.
“As corporates we have to design a variety of programmes and initiatives to meet not solely the wants of the business, but additionally the future of work – and critically the lengthy run employment possibilities for our younger people.
“If we do that proper, we will start changing the outlook on the employment entrance and be certain that financial development has a tangible impression on the futures and livelihoods of the generations to come.”

In เกจวัดแรงดันไนโตรเจน , Astron Energy runs the next programmes:
Learnerships

eight X Learnerships in chemical operations at the Astron Energy refinery in Milnerton, Cape Town

20 X Learnerships in Sales and New Venture Creation at Johannesburg workplaces

The Learnerships run from 1 Oct 2021 – 30 Sep 2022

Bursaries

Astron Energy runs a full Bursary programme which covers both under graduate and submit graduate studies, from 1st yr to Masters Level college students.
The bursaries include tuition charges, accommodation, books, meals, cash allowances and trip work in the form of internship/in-service-training inside the company’s operations.
The programme began in 2020 and thus far over 440 college students have been funded.
There are at present 196 pupil bursars and 15 employee bursars as a half of this programme. A total of 26 employee children are part of the bursary programme for 2022.
The bursary covers a spread of examine fields this year including:
BSc: Chemical Engineering/ BSc: Industrial Engineering/ BSC: Property Studies/ Masters: Industrial Psychology/ Honours: Financial Accounting/ Bcom: Economics/ BSc: Electrical Engineering/ Bcom/BA: Human Resources Management/ Bcom: Information Technology/ Bcom: Internal Auditing/ Bcom: Logistics/ Occupational Health and Safety/ Bcom: Supply Chain/ BSc: Analytical Chemistry.
Astron Energy additionally presents successful bursars the opportunity to be a half of the Astron Energy Graduate Training programme.
Apprenticeships

Astron Energy presents 24-month Apprenticeships in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering and Instrumentation at the refinery in Cape Town. At present, the corporate has six apprenticeships in its manufacturing division.
Graduate Programme

The Graduate Internship Programme is run in accordance with the various disciplines required by the enterprise and runs for a period of between 18-24 months. The current intake of Graduate interns is about to end on 31 December 2022.
Infographic

Astron Energy at present has seventy seven members in its Learnership, Apprenticeship and Graduate Internship programmes:
LogisticsGraduate Internship13

CFOGraduate Internship11

RetailGraduate Internship5

HRGraduate Internship3

HRLearnership20

C & IGraduate Internship2

CEOGraduate Internship2

ManufacturingGraduate Internship1

STOGraduate Internship3

Strategy Graduate Internship2

SHEQGraduate Internship1

ManufacturingApprentice6

ManufacturingChemical Operations Learnership8

Total77

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