Minister T.W. Nxesi engages employers on their critical role in lowering youth unemployment at the employer session in Mbombela, Mpumalanga
“Employers have a powerful role to play in lowering youth unemployment; our department has decided to establish partnerships, to make employment our mission, and to fund interventions that provide training to our youth and to access formal entry level jobs that will give them an opportunity to grow.”
Those were the utterances by Minister T.W. Nxesi earlier today (12 January 2024), during the Mpumalanga Employer Breakfast Session at Emnothweni Sun, in Mbombela. He pleaded with the employers to get involved in the initiatives by government so that they are not left behind. He mentioned that companies and work-seekers benefit, particularly the youth, and they contribute to economic development and help build social cohesion.
“We call on employers gathered in this hall to register vacancies and available training opportunities in our Employment Services of South Africa (ESSA) system. We are willing and ready to assist you in the recruitment and selection of your future employees free of charge. In other words, no employer will be charged labour brokering fees where you opt to use our systems. We offer similar services free of charge to work seekers.”
The session was part of the ongoing attempt to put systemic solutions in place that can produce results that are aligned to the needs of the employers and the broader Mpumalanga labour market as part of the country’s economy. The department has been on a week-long ‘taking services to the people’ campaign in the communities of Bushbuckridge from the 08 January 2024.
“The total number of people who came to register as work-seekers and provided with employment counselling services were 1 111. We are hoping that with the assistance that was provided to work-seekers to apply for various opportunities, within the coming weeks, the majority will be contacted and assisted to prepare for interviews with prospective employers in the province and beyond.
However, the Minister was also saddened to see a huge turn-up of young people coming to submit their Unemployment Insurance Fund claims arising from retrenchments that occurred during the last part of last year (2023), despite the call by the President to suspend retrenchments and keep people in employment.
Youth unemployment is a major national challenge; he emphasised, and needs urgent and coordinated responses from all sectors to address it.
“We are about to receive last year’s matric results. I am very much concerned over the large number of young people that will be joining the labour market under the current conditions.”
The Minister said the problem of unemployment cannot be solved by the department alone but it is everyone’s responsibility, and collaborative partnerships are the way to go.
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