Jobs Summit kicks off

© Brian Jackson – 123RF.com

The summit will bring together government, business, labour and community organisations to advance job creation.

It will provide a platform for open discussion on the challenges faced by each social partner in the creation of jobs.

The opening section is expected to kick off at 2pm with opening addresses from President Cyril Ramaphosa, the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) and the constituency leaders such as business, community and labour.

But it is the signing of the Jobs Summit Agreement that will take centre stage on the first day of the summit.

The NEDLAC, as the vehicle that brings together government and social partners, said the summit will seek to explore innovative approaches to support public and private enterprise development and procurement to boost the local economy.

Announcing the summit during his 2018 State of the Nation Address, President Ramaphosa highlighted that jobs, especially for the youth, will be at the centre of the 2018 national agenda.

The dire jobs situation is reflected in the Quarterly Labour Force Survey released by Statistics South Africa for the second quarter of 2018.

It shows that despite growth in employment of 206,000 jobs during the second quarter, the rate of unemployment was 27.2%. Furthermore, the unemployment rate of young people was at 52.4% and an absorption rate of only 12.2%.

In line with the National Development Plan, government aims to raise employment by 11 million to 24 million by 2030.

The summit comes just two weeks after President Ramaphosa announced an economic stimulus package to revive and boost the economy.

President Ramaphosa said the stimulus package measures provide fertile ground for the upcoming Jobs Summit and the Investment Conference later in October.

“It is better to go into the Jobs Summit armed with interventions that are ready than to go to a Jobs Summit and theorise. We want to go into the Job Summit and say these are the type of jobs that can be implemented,” said the President at the announcement of the stimulus package.

To ensure the success of the Jobs Summit, the government has called on the public and private sector to play their role in capacitating young people and advancing youth employment.