When South Africa says YES, youth move forward

South Africa’s youth unemployment crisis is as structural as it is personal. It cuts across geography, education levels and industry sectors, affecting the country’s growth trajectory and the individual dreams of millions of young people. 

According to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey, 46.1 percent of young South Africans between the ages of 15 and 34 are unemployed. That is not just an economic indicator. It reflects lost potential, diminished hope and the urgent need for systemic change.

What lies at the heart of this challenge is not a lack of talent. It is a lack of access. Access to networks, to credible experience, and to the kind of opportunities that allow people to demonstrate their value in real-world settings. South Africa is not short of ambition, nor of young people who are willingto work, to learn and to lead. The real shortage is in pathways that convert potential into progress.

This is precisely the gap the Youth Employment Service (YES) was created to bridge. Since its launch in 2018, YES has created more than 187,000 full-time, 12-month work experiences for previously unemployed youth across the country. Backed by more than 1,800 corporate partners and entirely funded by the private sector, the programme has injected over R10.84 billion into the economy in the form of salaries. These are not internships or short-term placements. They are structured, quality work experiences designed to build capability, expand opportunity and catalyse long-term inclusion.

At Nedbank, our involvement with YES is not limited to financial support or compliance metrics. We have embedded the programme into our broader strategy to attract, grow and retain young talent. Since 2019, we have placed more than 13,500 youth through YES, with a further 3,873 to be onboarded in 2025. These opportunities are offered both within Nedbank and through implementation partners aligned to our purpose-led focus on sustainability, transformation and inclusive growth.

What makes the programme effective is not just its scale. It is the intentionality behind it. YES, participants are placed in future-facing sectors such as digital, finance, environmental sustainability and green energy. These are areas where demand is growing and where the right investment in young people today can yield lasting returns for the economy tomorrow. Our joint Youth4Green initiative with YES is a case in point, opening up work experiences in solar energy, environmental management and conservation – areas with critical skills shortages and high development potential.

The socioeconomic profile of the youth we support reveals just how vital these interventions are. More than 85 percent of Nedbank YES participants come from grant-recipient households, and 86 percent have financial dependents. In many cases, the stipend provided through YES is the only consistent income in the household. But the value of the programme goes beyond the salary. It lies in the transformation that happens when someone enters a workplace for the first time, develops a professional identity, and begins to imagine themselves not only surviving, but contributing.And that transformation is measurable.

Thirty-six percent of Nedbank YES alumni are employed after completing the programme, well above the YES benchmark and another 21 percent have gone on to start their own businesses, signalling that entrepreneurship, too, is a viable pathway when confidence, exposure and support are present.

For the private sector, YES offers more than reputational value. It provides a mechanism to earn up to two levels on the B-BBEE scorecard, while also contributing to ESG priorities and sector-building strategies. In other words, it aligns social impact with strategic advantage. This is increasingly important in a business environment that expects organisations to demonstrate real, sustained contributions to transformation and inclusive growth.

At the same time, government cannot solve youth unemployment alone. The public sector has neither the absorption capacity nor the agility to respond to the fast-changing needs of the labour market. That is why partnerships matter. YES, works because it is business-led, but nation-minded. It invites the private sector to be not just employers, but active co-creators of the country’s future workforce.

As we reflect on Youth Month 2025, we are reminded that progress is cumulative. It happens one placement at a time. One conversation at a time. One young person at a time. When someone walks into their first job, it is not just their future that shifts – it is the trajectory of their family, their community, and in time, the economy.

Our country is at a critical juncture. We can continue to treat youth unemployment as an intractable crisis, or we can respond to it as a call to innovate, to partner and to invest with purpose. At Nedbank, we choose the latter. Our work with YES reflects that choice, and of our belief that young people deserve more than just a chance. They deserve a system that works for them.

Youth employment is not a social obligation. It is a strategic imperative. And when we get it right, everyone benefits.

Lerato Mathibela, Head of Group Human Resources Young Talent, Nedbank Group. 

BUSINESS REPORT

Visit: www.businessreport.co.za