Private sector must employ more young people: Ramaphosa

By Johnathan Paoli

President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on businesses to do more to ensure that youngsters are hired.

“Just as preparing our nation’s young people to achieve success in this exam is a collaborative effort, there is much more that partners like the private sector can do to hire young people,” he said in his weekly Monday letter to the nation.

Ramaphosa, who used the letter to reflect on the importance of the final matric exams, said it was important to think about the scale of the efforts to absorb these learners into the economy once they have attained the results they have worked so hard for.

The unemployment rate among young people aged 15-24 stands at 60.8%, according to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey. 

“We once again call on employers to relax the requirement of prior work experience, particularly for entry-level positions, and for entry into vocational occupations where young employees can be trained