South Africa Targets Youth Jobs in Green and Digital Sectors

South Africa has identified decarbonisation and digitisation as priority sectors for tackling youth unemployment, while the Youth Employment Service says sustained economic growth creates jobs. Its proposed approach connects training and employment programmes to sectors expected to expand, rather than treating placements as a standalone solution.

The employment pipeline

The Youth Employment Service, or YES, calls its work a talent-pipeline programme. It aims to prepare young people for work and help them build technical skills, entrepreneurial instincts and professional networks. The sponsored article says future jobs will differ from those available today. Faster, cheaper micro-credentials, it argues, could help more young people use artificial intelligence and digital tools.

YES serves as the renewable-energy sector’s talent pipeline under the South African Renewable Energy Master Plan. The article identifies electric vehicles, renewable energy and battery technology as areas set to expand through decarbonisation. It says the Eastern Cape’s economic future depends on the shift away from internal combustion engines.

Global business services and information technology could also create work, the article says. South Africa is well placed for digital-sector jobs, it argues, thanks to its time zone between the Western and Eastern hemispheres, English-language skills and financial services foundation. AI literacy is becoming a baseline requirement in technology, logistics, manufacturing, banking and agriculture.

Smart agriculture and mining offer further opportunities. The article points to critical minerals needed globally as part of mining’s potential, while noting that digital tools and AI literacy matter across several industries.

Training and the jobs gap

Education and training outcomes don’t match what employers need, the article says. South Africa spends more per capita on education than almost any country, yet ranks near the bottom internationally on outcomes. More than 90% of Technical and Vocational Education and Training graduates struggle to find work, according to the article.

Most TVET students aren’t studying trades the country needs, such as plumbing, electrical work and water technology. The article says workers trained in those fields could help ease infrastructure constraints that suppress growth.

Each year, approximately 800,000 to 1 million people enter the labour market, while 300,000 to 400,000 find work, the article estimates. That leaves a structural backlog of around half a million people annually.

Proposals for expanding placements

YES proposes putting youth employment at the centre of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment codes. Stronger incentives could lift YES participation from 2,000 companies to 20,000, and annual placements from 40,000 to 400,000. The article estimates that this could give four million additional young people formal-sector work experience over a decade.

The second proposal would redirect 5% of the existing R500 billion annual education and training budget toward employment outcomes. The funds would subsidise the first year of employment for companies hiring TVET graduates in priority trades. With one-to-one private-sector matching, the article says, the measure could generate a further four million jobs over 10 years.

Together, the two proposals could create eight million additional youth jobs, all supporting growth, the article says. The Youth Employment Service wrote the article, published on Oct. 22, 2026.