UNEMPLOYMENT
Statistics South Africa reported that the country shed 345 000 jobs in the first quarter of 2026, pushing the official unemployment rate to 32.7 %. Young people remain hardest hit. The unemployment rate of those aged 15 to 34 rose to 45.8 %, while nearly 3.9 million young people remain outside employment, education, or training.
Muhammad Ali, MD of World Wide Industrial & Systems Engineers, the problem is increasingly linked to the disconnect between education pathways, qualifications, and actual workplace requirements. " Many businesses are struggling to find workplace-ready people with the right technical skills, practical competence, and operational understanding, despite unemployment remaining extremely high," he says.
" High unemployment does not automatically mean employers have access to a work-ready talent pool with the right experience, skills, and qualifications," he says. " There is often a gap between qualifications and workplace demand, which means organisations need stronger function- or role-based internal development pipelines, supported by occupational training, learnerships, workplace exposure, and structured skills development."
The labour market data supports this concern. While overall employment declined, some sectors showed positive signs such as manufacturing added 38 000 jobs during the quarter, mining added 32 000, and agriculture added 10 000. Community and social services lost 206 000 jobs, construction lost 110 000, and transport lost 30 000.
According to Ali, employers are increasingly demanding capabilities such as AI awareness, technology literacy, and resilience. This does not mean jobs are being created at the scale South Africa needs. Rather, it means that even where demand exists, too many job-seekers are not being prepared for the roles taking shape.
Prof Joseph Sekhampu of the NWU Business School warns that higher education is expanding faster than the economy can absorb.“ Universities are expected to serve as engines of social mobility. However, this expectation depends on an economy capable of absorbing and productively deploying those skills. That assumption is
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