By Rorisang Rathebe, Communications Specialist, Mr Price Foundation
Our matric youth need the right opportunities quickly
When it comes to youth skills development, much of the existing system is still designed for a world that no longer exists. Young people are not failing to participate; rather, the system is failing to provide meaningful routes to inclusion.
South Africa’s youth unemployment crisis is not merely a function of economic downturn or limited job availability. With nearly half of all young people not in education, employment or training (NEET)1Quarterly Labour Force Survey ,Stats SA, Q1, 2025 , traditional models of skills development are failing to connect young people with real opportunities for work and income.
Young people who have completed matric but are unable to access tertiary education or employment opportunities form one of the most vulnerable and overlooked segments of South Africa’s population. Too old for school-based interventions yet excluded from university and college systems, they often fall through the cracks of formal support structures. This group is critical because it sits at a pivotal point. With the right intervention, they can be quickly absorbed into entry-level jobs, gain experience and begin building economic independence. Catching them at this early stage, before they become discouraged or disconnected from the world of work, is crucial.
Nipping discouragement in the bud
Statistics South Africa2Ibid describes discouraged work-seekers as:
- those who wanted to work, were available to work/start a business but did not take active steps to find work because there were no jobs available in the area, and/or
- those who were unable to find work requiring their skills, and/or
- those who had lost hope of finding any kind of work.
Discouragement is a significant contributor to economic inactivity, and the longer a young person remains unemployed after school, the harder it becomes to secure meaningful employment later. Early intervention not only prevents long-term labour market exclusion but also reinforces a sense of purpose, identity and momentum that can shape the trajectory of an entire life. Investing in skills development for this group can offer high-impact opportunities to curb youth unemployment.
Mismatched industry needs and skills
It is worth reflecting, however, on the fact that in traditional skills development models, there is a profound mismatch between the skills that are being developed and those that industries actually need. What we do not need, is the tendency for obsessive prioritisation of accreditation, and an excessive recognition of activities and outputs over outcomes and impact. What is needed – and it is long overdue – is a critical rethink and reengineering, which should drive skills development models that are responsive to industry demand and inclusive of those excluded from formal education. Moreover, a strong model would be one that is focused on outcomes and impact.
As a youth empowerment organisation focused on connecting young people to sustainable economic opportunities, Mr Price Foundation works with the understanding that a combination of these elements results in meaningful impact. This includes challenging legacy systems by pioneering an agile approach to skills development programmes, which shifts interventions from simply being tick-box exercises, to vehicles for tangible, lasting change. JumpStart, for example, is a series of skills development programmes, aimed specifically at nurturing retail skills that prepare youth for job opportunities across the value chain.
Myths about certification and employment
Supply-led skills development models are not uncommon for skills development programmes. They rely on supply-led models where curricula are standardised, slow to adapt and disconnected from real-world demand. This approach tacitly assumes that if young people are trained and certified, it will automatically result in employment, or at least employability.
In practice, however, this is rarely the case. The youth unemployment statistics paint a different picture, where just last year, only 9,8% of the employed youth were graduates 3Unemployment in South Africa:A Youth Perspective. Stats SA, 2024. Further research by Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator 4Breaking Barriers Quarterly Employment Report ,Harambee 2024 and others have repeatedly shown that accreditation is not a guarantee of employability. In many fast-paced sectors like retail and logistics, hiring decisions for entry-level roles are based less on formal qualifications and more on attributes such as reliability, communication and readiness to work. Yurissa Sawers, Programme Manager for JumpStart skills development programmes at Mr Price Foundation, confirms that “The Foundation’s employer partners frequently cite soft skills gaps, rather than technical knowledge, as key barriers to hiring young people”. Yet, these are often not prioritised in traditional training.
Keeping up with industry needs and skills
To take matters further, our country’s curriculum approval and accreditation process may not be able to keep pace with sectors that are rapidly evolving. While mining or manufacturing might still operate in long, stable cycles, industries like retail have changed dramatically in the past decade, especially in the wake of a global pandemic and unyielding digital transformation. More than ever, there’s a need for resilient, agile workforces, with staff who can shift between roles (cashier, stock replenishment, online order packing) based on demand. This calls for training that fosters multi-skilling, adaptability and fast learning.
Retailers have also had to digitise rapidly in recent years, which demands that staff be attuned to transformed consumer behaviour and the technology interfaces associated with that. In many other ways, retail continues to evolve and will not slow down any time soon. This makes it increasingly important to question skills development programmes’ effectiveness in keeping up with a pace that doesn’t seem to be decelerating.
Demand-led models
A demand-led training model is an appropriate response to these considerations. It starts with the employer, identifying specific needs, forecasting demand, and designing programmes that respond directly to them. Models of this nature often target young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). For them, short, intensive, practical training, linked directly to job requirements, can be transformative.
Demand-led approaches flip the assumption that training is only meaningful when accredited or when it leads to certification. Instead, they prioritise employability and access to livelihoods. These programmes also challenge the notion that employment unequivocally follows education. Increasingly, for many youths, employment must be the education; it is the place where skills are learned, confidence is built, and economic participation begins.
Measuring what truly matters
Delivering impactful programmes also relies on collaboration with key stakeholders like partners and funders. Yet the nature of these relationships should also be assessed. The current funding landscape for skills development in South Africa tends to reward process over progress. Inputs like training hours, alongside outputs like the number of learners trained, are often the primary focus of reporting and incentivisation. In reality, these metrics rarely tell us whether a programme has achieved what truly matters: helping young people secure jobs, retain them and improve their lives in the long run. This can obscure the bigger picture and encourage programmes that look successful on paper but produce little change in reality.
Funders find themselves in an influential position – the metrics that they prioritise inevitably shape the ethos of skills development initiatives. If inputs and outputs are valued above outcomes and real impact, then there is little motivation for programmes to be designed to achieve meaningful change. Echoing this sentiment, the World Bank notes that, unlike traditional funding approaches, outcome-based financing has superb capacity for driving innovation that can catalyse greater impact for beneficiaries and reduce costs for funders. By tying funding to results such as job placement, retention or income generation, skills development training providers are not only held accountable but are also empowered to adapt and improve.
Success and transformation
This is the approach at Mr Price Foundation, where internal programme metrics are intentionally designed to reflect real-world impact. Success is not defined by beneficiary participation alone, but by job placements, conversion, retention and repeat hiring, – all which are indicators that a young person has not only entered the world of work but is succeeding in it. This emphasis on outcomes keeps the organisation focused on sustainable livelihoods, not symbolic achievements.
A systemic shift toward outcomes-based funding would help align public policy, funder priorities and programme design with the ultimate goal to transforms lives. It would also help create a more honest and transparent landscape, where there is a distinction between activity and impact, and between motion and progress. For young programme beneficiaries, that could mean that they’re not just getting access to training, but access to better a future.
Collaborative, future -facing skills development
To effectively implement and scale the demand-led, outcomes-focused models described above, enhanced collaboration between employers, civil society, training providers and government is essential. Importantly, it also requires changes to the policy environment. While well-intentioned, South Africa’s regulatory frameworks around skills development are not always current, let alone future facing. They must therefore be restructured to actively support innovation, enabling flexibility, and reward tangible results.
This includes recognising non-accredited programmes that demonstrate high employment impact, reforming tax incentives and funding requirements to support outcomes-based models, creating fast-track pathways for industry-aligned curricula and robustly supporting intermediary organisations that connect young people to work.
Meaningful routes for inclusion
If the objective of youth skills development is to reduce youth unemployment at scale, then the focus must unequivocally shift from accreditation to employment, from inputs to outcomes, and from tradition to agility.
Fundamental change begins by asking the uncomfortable questions and being bold enough to adapt activity and output-focused approaches to agile approaches that truly empower young South Africans. We live in a new world, where past solutions are no longer relevant. Innovative solutions, based on a sound understanding of what the world of work demands today, and an intimate understanding of young people’s real needs, is what can shift young people from exclusion and discouragement to independence and success.