Nelson Mandela Bay’s 33.1% unemployment rate masks a growing problem for the metro’s manufacturers.
The statistic means that more than three out of every 10 people in the metro are unemployed.
However, manufacturers cannot find enough suitably skilled people to fill critical vacancies.
A new manufacturing skills audit by the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber lays bare the paradox.
It warns that the system meant to move young people from education into the workplace is failing.
The audit, covering 55 manufacturing companies employing more than 12,600 people, found severe pressure in recruiting for specialised positions.
Employers rated failed recruitment searches at nine out of 10, while the difficulty of filling vacancies and the length of time positions remained vacant both scored 7.5 out of 10.
The city cannot simultaneously have high unemployment and factories struggling to find people to operate, maintain and modernise their plants without asking some uncomfortable questions.
The most important question is whether we are treating unemployment and the skills shortage as two separate problems when they are clearly two sides of the same problem.
The answer cannot simply be to produce more qualifications as modern manufacturing is changing rapidly.
A qualification that does not translate into those workplace competencies is of limited value to an employer or an unemployed graduate.
Creating another training programme, holding another jobs summit or producing another policy will not solve the problem if the training does not lead to the skills employers need.
Industry must have a much stronger voice in determining what is taught and how it is taught.
Higher education cannot operate in isolation from the factories, engineering firms and technology companies that ultimately employ their graduates.
The government needs to stop measuring success primarily by how many people pass through a programme.
The chamber’s proposed skills database, industry advisory structures, technical pathways and stronger links between education and employers are therefore worth pursuing and a good start.
But the real test will be whether, five years from now, manufacturers are still reporting the same recruitment failures.
Follow The Herald WhatsApp channel today and stay connected to the stories shaping our world.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.