Sasol Bridge To Work Brochure - Book - Page 23
Drivers and solution
Drivers
South Africa’s unemployment rate is the highest it has ever been at 34%. Youth unemployment
is even worse, sitting at approximately 70% (first quarter of 2022). This crisis is unfolding in
an environment where employers are desperate for new age digital skills. It is clear that there is
a mismatch between the skills required by industry and the skills that the potential workforce
possesses.
Efforts to address this problem have not yielded any major breakthrough and the problem
seems to be multiplying faster than solutions can be developed. In part crisis relates to the
poor capitalisation of latent potential among young people. As the global demand for new age
digital skills grows at an accelerated rate across industries, South Africa MUST rapidly develop
internationally competitive skills in order to get a fair share of this global demand. This is the
most sustainable way of creating jobs and empowering the youth to create sustainable value.
Solution
Empower youth of Sasol fence-line communities with applied 4IR skills in order to compete
globally, create scalable start-ups, build sustainable digital SMMEs that are relevant to
their community, and secure employment where they can make a valuable contribution and
transformative impact.
The programme considers the need to focus on technical skills as well as core or soft skills
required to develop a well-rounded digital entrepreneur and/or professional. Sasol’s fence-line
communities can develop local digital capabilities that can compete globally while advancing the
economic interests of the local community.
21