Tarryn Mason | May 13, 2025
Many learners are caught up in a short-term training cycle with no long-term prospects. It's time to rethink your learning and invest in sustainable skill development and real career paths.
Learning is an essential tool for dealing with unemployment in South Africa and for having young people with the skills to participate in the workforce. However, most employers often place learners in one year programmes where learners see them as short-term compliance exercises and have little intention of providing long-term support or employment. This approach is rare to create a career outlook that is meaningful for the learners involved, while still engraving boxes.
The problem with short-term learning is that they often leave participants who have returned from where they started – unemployed, unskilled, discouraged. These programs may provide temporary exposure to the workplace, but without progression or absorption, learners are not given the opportunity to build experiences and qualifications that make them truly employable.
Encouraged, there are several companies that believe that true empowerment comes from long-term investments in people. Cookie Naidoo, the human capital executive at Italtile, explains their approach. “Our skill development policy is rooted in the belief that we will only train learners for a year, and leaving the unemployed is of little use to support growth, so we will equip individuals to guide individuals to reinforce individuals and be employed in the workplace.
This perspective provides a practical and powerful solution to the ongoing challenges. By committing to training learners over the years, businesses can play a transformative role in filling the gap between education and sustainable employment.
The above ideas also address the growth trends of employers who place strict age restrictions on study candidates – often exclude those over 29, and sometimes more than 25, which exacerbate the problem – learners who have not completed a year's program but have not progressed remain in the system, earning elites for future opportunities, becoming part of the ultimate pool.
A more sustainable alternative is to hire learners after the first year of training and continue their journey of skill development as further learners as hired learners. This not only improves qualifications, but also builds valuable work experience, contributing to the company's growth and transformation objectives.
Ultimately, the goal of learning should be long-term impact, not short-term compliance. Companies that recognize the value of investing in learners for several years are actively shaping a more inclusive, skilled, employable workforce, as well as meeting legislative requirements.
“Disclaimer – the views and opinions expressed in this article are the views of the author and are not necessarily those of the Bee Room.”
