Many learners are caught in a cycle of short-term training with no long-term prospects. It's time to rethink learnerships and invest in sustainable skills development and real career pathways.
Learnerships are an essential tool in addressing unemployment in South Africa and equipping young people with skills to enter the workforce. However, most employers still view learnerships as a short-term compliance exercise, often placing learners on one-year programmes with little intention of offering long-term support or employment. This approach, while ticking a box, does little to create meaningful career prospects for the learners involved.
The issue with short-term learnerships is that they often leave participants right back where they started - unemployed, under-skilled and disheartened. These programmes may provide temporary exposure to the workplace, but without progression or absorption, learners are not afforded the opportunity to build the kind of experience or qualifications that make them truly employable.
Encouragingly, there are some companies that believe that true empowerment comes from long-term investment in people. Cookie Naidoo, Human Capital Executive at Italtile, explains their approach, “Our skills development policy is rooted in the belief that training learners for just one year and then leaving them unemployed does little to support their growth. That’s why we are committed to multi-year learnership programmes that take individuals all the way to Diploma level - equipping them with meaningful qualifications and real workplace experience that truly makes them marketable and employable in the long run.”
This perspective offers a practical and empowering solution to an ongoing challenge. By committing to training learners over a number of years, companies can play a transformative role in bridging the gap between education and sustainable employment.
The above mindset also addresses the growing trend of employers placing strict age limits on learnership candidates - often excluding anyone over 29, and in some cases, even over 25. Such restrictions further exacerbate the problem - learners who complete a one-year programme but are not absorbed or advanced remain in the system, aging out of eligibility for future opportunities and ultimately becoming part of the growing pool of unemployed youth.
A more sustainable alternative is to employ learners after their first year of training and continue their skills development journey through further learnerships as employed learners. This not only improves their qualifications but also builds valuable work experience while contributing to the company’s growth and transformation objectives.
Ultimately, the goal of learnerships should be long-term impact, not short-term compliance. Companies that recognise the value of investing in learners over multiple years are not just meeting legislative requirements - they are actively shaping a more inclusive, skilled and employable workforce.
