Abstract
M. Com. (Development Economics)
In recent years unemployment has received considerable international attention from scholars, policy makers, and labour practitioners, because it has reduced economic welfare, reduced output, and eroded human capital. Researchers argue that South Africa is faced with structural unemployment because of the insufficient demand for low-skilled resources and the sufficient demand for highly skilled resources. However, in terms of highly skilled resources, young South Africans have become better educated over the last decade, resulting in a significant growth in the size of the graduate labour force. This growth emanates particularly from the fact that the majority of the graduate labour force has completed their tertiary education. Despite this growth, graduate unemployment appears to be rising along with the overall unemployment rate.
The aim of this study is to sensitise policy authorities to the impact of graduate unemployment on the economy by highlighting the perceived causes of graduate unemployment in South Africa’s banking sector.
The research was conducted with the aid of a survey administered to two groups, namely a graduate group and a human resource (HR) manager group. The result derived from the research shows that the quality of tertiary institutions which relates to educational standards and culture, the quality of education, high expectations, a shortage of skills, a lack of work experience, and a lengthy process of application and job search are perceived to be the possible causes of graduate unemployment in South Africa.
The study makes several tentative recommendations relating to what can possibly be done to reduce graduate unemployment. Among the recommendations proposed are the improvement of the quality of education and institutions, a well-planned career guidance mechanism, and a graduate recruitment subsidy.