The latest unemployment statistics released on 14 May showed a shocking number of unemployed youth whose numbers have risen with 236.000.

It could be challenging for many young people who might have a matric certificate, have just graduated, or even need to drop out of high school to find employment. 

According to Stats SA, the youth unemployment rate is 1.3 percentage points higher from 44,3% in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 45,5% in the first quarter of 2024.

As the unemployment rates rise, youth have started trying to earn an income through other sources such as entrepreneurship, content creation, and remote jobs.

OFM News spoke to young people who are doing it for themselves despite the unemployment rate and lack of jobs in our economy,

“Content creation to me is posting on social media for a specific audience. It involves keeping up with trends, figuring out how you can merge what is trending with your niche, planning and filming your post in advance so that posting is consistent.” said content creator Kaylin van Schalkwyk (24).

Kaylin who started her content creation journey in 2022 through TikTok also brought up the fact that content creation should be thought of as a job.

“It takes consistency and effort every day. As a student/someone who works part time, it’s difficult to give it enough attention which results in missed opportunities.

“Also, when trying to peruse content creation, you should focus on a niche/target audience and become known for that so that brands in that niche are more likely to reach out to you. Take note of what’s trending on social media and try to incorporate that into your niche.”

Becoming a content creator may come with highs and lows as the income you receive for your content will mostly come from paid campaigns, but if you are consistent in your production of a certain type of content, you will experience growth and more companies will reach out to you for collaborations.

Muneer Williams (22) did his matric in 2020 and immediately began studying. However, he had to find out by himself which options he had post-matric.

“Companies could go to schools and recruit students who they see fit for training and gaining work experience and furthermore after training, offering to employ the students at their companies,” said Williams

He also believes that companies could assist those who are looking for jobs by offering training for the specific jobs, especially seeing as young, enthusiastic students looking for a job with no work experience get demotivated when having met all the requirements but get stuck by the fact they have no work experience.

Another option for struggling youth could be entrepreneurship, this may be a daunting option out of all, but can produce a successful outcome.

Find something you are passionate about and make a business out of it, the opportunities are endless. Identify a gap within your community and find out how you can fill it, there are free courses on LinkedIn that may assist you in your knowledge upskilling.

One thing the youth of South Africa need to get familiar with is the LinkedIn app, as this application comes with thousands of benefits, such as connecting with people who are already working in the field you would like to be in or even potential employers as there are constant recruitment strategies on the app.

 OFM News/Casey-Lee Anthony dg