ANC's Fikile Mbalula: Scrap experience rules for entry-level jobs to give youth a chance
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has called for job experience requirements to be scrapped for entry-level work to allow young people the opportunity to work.
Image: Itumeleng English / Independent Newspapers
ANC secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, says young South Africans should be given the opportunity to work even if they lack the experience in entry-level jobs.
He said the job experience requirement should be eradicated as it had left several young people frustrated when they applied for work as they lacked the experience that employers sought.
He said this requirement leaves young people shut out of the labour market before their careers even begin.
Addressing a community gathering in Madibeng, North West recently, Mbalula said that insisting on experience for first jobs was a barrier to opportunity.
“Young people finish their education and seek work only to be told they don’t qualify because they lack experience,” he said.
“I am saying young people must work, they will get experience at work. This thing of blocking young people because of experience must come to an end.”
South Africa’s jobless crisis is dire especially among the youth. According to the latest official figures, the national unemployment rate stands at 33.2%, with youth unemployment significantly higher.
Dozens of graduates, from doctors to engineers, teachers to technicians, find themselves stuck in a cycle of joblessness because their first step into the workforce is blocked by requirements they cannot meet.
In some cases, there are no jobs available to gain the experience they need.
Universities and colleges continue to produce thousands of qualified graduates each year, only for many to be met with rejection slips citing a lack of experience.
Critics of the experience requirement say it effectively makes entry-level jobs inaccessible, creating a catch-22 where candidates cannot gain experience because no one will give them a chance.
However business organisations have argued that some positions do require specialised skills, but youth and labour organisations say that training and internships should replace arbitrary experience barriers.
Mbalula’s call comes as the ANC celebrates its 114th anniversary this weekend, bringing renewed political focus to economic challenges facing South Africa’s youth and the broader labour market.