The role of business in supporting youth transitions; Concept note developed for BUSA
by ALTMAN,M., MAROCK,C., 2013Research Report, Human Sciences Research Council, prepared for BUSA
Altman and Marock prepared this report for Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) to support its engagements on youth unemployment. In particular, they reflect on the potential of the private sector to support the youth employment initiatives being implemented by government. The programmes reviewed include:· Skills development (linked to education and training) and/or internship programmes · Work readiness and placement programmes· Small business development· Employment creation and sustainable livelihoods. The private sector is already engaged with most of these programmes to varying degrees. This report suggests ways that these initiatives could be expanded or where private sector engagement could be improved to enhance their impact. The report starts by highlighting the urgent need for interventions to promote youth employment, and provides possible explanations for high youth unemployment. It then considers the rationale for business engagement with these youth sectors; this includes an analysis of upstream and downstream networks and the policy and regulatory environment. The next section outlines the programmes currently on offer and reviews their successes and weaknesses. Finally, the paper suggests types of programmes that different categories of business could support as part of their contribution to addressing the challenge of youth unemployment.
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