A Short Note on the Jobs Summit and the Challenge of Mass Unemployment

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  • Jobs and more importantly those without jobs should be the focus of the 2018 Jobs Summit which must deal with some of the key structural constraints on employment creation.
  • Most solutions focus on projects, initiatives and interventions that help move people into or closer to the front of the ‘unemployment queue’, however, little attention is paid to policy reforms needed to shrink those queues.
  • With unemployment sitting at 37%, South Africa’s crisis of unemployment is the deepest in the world.
  • The most efficient, sustainable “projects” for creating jobs are private sector firms. Policy that ensures their survival and expansion, as well as the creation of many more new firms, would have the greatest impact on unemployment.
  • South Africa needs a bold reform agenda that responds to the scale of the problem, improves the business environment, and encourages firms to hire more workers – particularly young inexperienced work seekers.

Read the op-ed : The Jobs Summit and the challenge of mass unemployment

Read Press Release: Jobs crisis needs new approach

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