KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, is leading from the front and taking decisive action to tackle youth unemployment through exposing youth to careers of the future.
This became evident when thousands of graduates and young people from KwaZulu-Natal were given life changing opportunities and equipped with information about in-demand jobs at a career exhibition aimed at exposing youth to job opportunities in different sectors.
In an effort to introduce learners to new-age careers and reskill unemployed graduates for careers needed by the industries, the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government, in partnership with the Fuze Institute and the University of KwaZulu-Natal, hosted a three-day career expo at the KwaZulu-Natal University.
Held during Youth Month, the main aim of the expo was to expose youth to job opportunities in different sectors, and break barriers and bottlenecks in order to curb rampant youth unemployment in the province and the country.
The event, which started from 22 to 24 June 2023, opened to high school learners, graduates and the general public, and attracted more than 10 000 people from all over the province.
Through public-private partnership, the career expo targeted unemployed graduates in order to reskill them for new opportunities that are needed by various industries. Bursaries applications and information on available scholarships were also shared.
The expo featured several exhibitors, representing a wide range of industries, including Agriculture, Information and Communication Technology, Manufacturing, Automotive Manufacturing, Fast-Moving Consumer Retail, Maritime and Aviation, among other key sectors of the economy.
The expo also featured a number of workshops and presentations covering a wide range of topics which are beneficial to the youth.
Visitors at the expo also had the opportunity to meet with prospective employers, learn about career opportunities and network with other professionals.
Dube-Ncube hailed the event as “highly impactful”.
Dube-Ncube said the provincial government is of the view that the province needs to drive a hybrid approach of keeping conventional jobs, while implementing strategies that will aggressively shift youth’s efforts towards creating marketable opportunities for themselves.
The Premier emphasised that the career expo is about imparting meaningful and demonstrable knowledge to the youth, to be courageous enough to set up their own entities and create more sustainable, decent and fulfilling jobs.
“The time for never-ending meetings about meetings is over now. We are turning the tide against unemployment for our people. As I speak, I am captivated but equally gripped by emotions because I have a line of sight over a KwaZulu-Natal that is working, both young and old. It is not on paper or in offices, we are being practical now,” Dube-Ncube said.
She also highlighted that the career expo was also a valuable platform that connects young people with prospective employers, and learn about their sectors and identify available opportunities.
“There are many post-school youth development programmes, including on-the-job training for some entry-level jobs, graduate internships across a wide range of disciplines, learnerships, cadet programmes that develop critical skills, and bursary programmes that funds university education for matriculants,” Dube-Ncube said. – SAnews.gov.za
