Young People Navigating the Labour Market Issues facing young people in accessing the labour market

Some Emerging Issues and Recommendations

During this assignment we have considered a vast number of evaluations undertaken both nationally and globally. We have also considered policy documents, discussions and debates taking place about youth in the country as well as elsewhere, and have reflected on the context of young people in South Africa. A substantive amount of work has been done, many lessons have been learnt – some point to challenges, but there are also really positive examples of programmes that are successfully enabling young people to make the transition.

This section provides a summary of the key learnings that are emerging and these are presented below to guide discussion and deliberations. The first section of this conclusion talks to what we have learnt about effective programme design. The second section highlights the more macro issues that emerge from this report, it is anticipated these will form the basis for future engagement amongst role players.

SECTION ONE: LEARNING ABOUT PROGRAMME DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION
TIMING	The point at which programmes are implemented is critical. The learning from the school level interventions show that the point (Grade) at which particular programmes are introduced is a key success factor (and the Grade will depend on the type of programme i.e. those which depend on learners having made a choice about career should be introduced later, while those that address foundational skills and depend on high levels of trust and commitment need to be introduced earlier). In relation to post-school interventions, and this is particularly seen in the international review, there is an imperative to catch youth before they have been unemployed for an extended period of time.
TARGETING	The ‘youth’ are an extremely diverse group: Programmes should be targeted at specific groups of young people: that is, there must be diverse programmes that meet these varied needs. Programmes should then ensure that the target group is aware of these programmes and that the programmes enable this target group to effectively access and participate in the process. This includes considering the balance of sanctions and incentives that are required to retain youth in the programmes.
SELECTION	The effective selection of candidates for programmes is continually raised as a key success factor: this links to the point highlighted above – different programmes will be effective for different young people. There is therefore a need for careful selection of young people prior to entering programmes: and young people should either be accepted directly into the programme (where they meet the requisite criteria) or should be supported to develop these competencies prior to beginning the programme, or be directed to an institution that can support the young person to acquire these competencies.
INFORMATION	Information and guidance should be offered to young people about what the programme will provide and what opportunities may exist beyond the programme: this should ensure that the young people that are recruited are interested in and motivated to take part in the programme. It should also ensure that young people understand what the expectations are of them, and what the conditions of the programme may be, so that they are able to determine whether they wish to make a commitment. It is then critical that changes that take place are communicated to the young people – and there are an increasing number of ways to do this such that young people are kept abreast of developments.
DURATION	Programmes, which have a longer duration, and therefore a sustained or sustainable funding source, are more likely to succeed. This needs to take into account the reality that there is a long lead-time to get to the point of directly observable success. Further, examples provided in this report – such as Go for Gold illustrate the value of working with young people over a sustained period. The importance of programmes of a lengthier duration is further illustrated by the examples of the entrepreneurial development programmes provided in this report such as Clothing Bank, which highlights the need for sustained support to be provided to young entrepreneurs. As the Ikusasa programme notes, the process of shifting young people in South Africa from a “dependent paradigm to a responsible, mature and independent paradigm” is a long, hard process. Further, examples in this report, such as Harambee, point to the need to create credible and effective relations with employers such that it is possible to explore ways in which the work environment and/or work processes can be modified to effectively and successfully accommodate young people.
RELEVANCE	This is linked to context and to selection, but a strong learning that has emerged from the evaluations conducted, is the need to explore ways to ensure that learning programmes are more relevant: the examples, such as Harambee and Mr Price, where they have achieved high placement rates are those where (i) work readiness is a strong feature of the programme relating to both the work context into which the young people will be entered and is able to instil the discipline and attitudes required in the workplace, and (ii) where employers are involved in different aspects of the programme such as selection, curriculum, assessment and of course placement. This involvement ensures that the programme is relevant for the workplace - however, there is equally a need to ensure that programmes provide a basis for further learning and this has implications for the nature of the programme. Further, the programmes that are most effective are those when young people can see the relevance of the programme for their own lives, for example both City Year and LoveLife report that young people find the programme useful when it provides them the possibility of changing their status in their communities. Further, Promaths highlights the finding that when young people could see maths as something that opens up opportunities they commit to the programme and are willing to do the extra tutorials – even on the weekends, because they can see that it helps them.
CONFIDENCE	Critically, programmes needs to focus on building the esteem and confidence of the young person. This is illustrated by programmes such City Year, LoveLife and increasingly CWP, which has shown the importance of young people receiving affirmation for the work that they are doing in the community, and creating spaces for young people to develop their leadership skills is critical. This philosophy needs to be built into the structure and design of the programme: Further, some of the learnership/FET college interventions show that successful programmes are often built on intensive one-to-one relationships between a young person and a mentor of some description. In addition, to develop this confidence, programmes need to have markers of success – whether it is receiving an award in the workplace, achieving a matric pass, completing a qualification, successfully starting a small business or getting a job: these need to be effectively communicated as part of the programme, using language and methods which are accessible and attractive to young people.
INTEGRATION	The evaluation shows that for successful interventions, there is a need for multiple levels of integration. This includes integrating theory and practice, as well as services to support the employability of young people. This will include integrating work readiness as well as creating opportunities for on-the-job application of skills as well as services to support the placement of young people in sustainable jobs and opportunities. Learning from these evaluations point to the need to enhance the efficacy of the support provided to young people to enable them to access formal employment and/or enterprises: suggesting the need for programmes which have strong assessment, matching, and placement components. Further, there is a need to integrate other forms of learning support within the programmes: this may include bridging support within a programme, or could include linkages with other providers that may be enabling young people to complete their matric through an adult education centre.
INSTITUTIONAL CREDIBILITY	The programmes described in this report demonstrate strongly that there is a need to work with institutions that have credibility, in terms of what the programme can deliver, as well as, it’s relative ‘attractiveness’ in terms of social norms: essentially, programmes which are to attract large numbers of young people have to have ‘street cred’ – people should know that they work. In addition, the institutions need to have credibility with employers – there is a need to ensure that employers trust the institution that the young people that they will recruit have the requisite competencies as well as attitude. There is much greater strength in institutions that have developed relationships with partner organisations to enable them to refer young people to relevant services, and, where pertinent, to bring these partners in to support a particular element of their programme.
Further, It is noted that a prior research programme undertaken as part of this UNDP/ILO/DoL//NYDA process recommended that there is a need to consider ways to improve the current databases that are in place to support job seeking. The paper suggests that a number of technical details can be improved relating to how data is stored. The analysis also suggests further ways in which the databases and the way they are maintained could be changed with the aim of providing improved services to work-seekers, as well as a better understanding of what the services are achieving. The research also suggests that it would be particularly useful to improve the recording of what happens to the work-seekers after they are registered on the database, and of whether and when the work-seekers are placed in jobs or other opportunities. It is further recommended that it would also be good to have details of the placements, such as the industry, occupation, starting salary and location, as well as whether the placement was secured through the job placement agency (ESSA, SAGDA or NYDA) or through other means. The research suggests that ideally one would also want further information on whether the person stays in the job, though it is noted that this is complex.
SECTION TWO: LEARNING: KEY SUCCESS FACTORS CRITICAL TO MAKING CHOICES
This paper has highlighted the complexity of the issues facing young people – the large numbers that have not completed their matric, the alarming statistics about the NEETs, and the numbers of factors that effect both how people seek work and the possibilities of securing economic and learning opportunities. For example, location, gender, race and education levels are all factors that affect how one seeks work, and the likelihood of securing an economic opportunity. This paper also highlights the policy environment in which choices are being made – and points to the debates that are taking place with respect to which policy and programmatic options to strengthen and to introduce. It considers then, what is required to make different choices work – and reflect on the factors that enable programmes to succeed based on South African and global experience. This learning has been distilled in the previous section of this conclusion. The report takes as its starting point the type of interventions that have been discussed in this report, which are: Those that focus on improving the ability of secondary school learners to make a transition into further learning and the workplace Those that enhance the work readiness of young people and support the placement of young people Those that support the development of occupational competence Those that enable entrepreneurial development Those that create public employment opportunities. The report suggests that where these are offered well – in line with the programme design principles suggested above – all of these programmes have value for young people. Flowing from this, the report suggests a scenario, which emphasises the need for a sufficient diversity of quality programmes that are targeted effectively and meet the varied needs of both young people and the labour market. The report therefore argues that role players considering how to engage with these recommendations when deciding on programmes and interventions to support and implement should consider some critical factors. These include: That the programme can be offered at scale That the programme can be sustained That there is a credible institution(s) that can deliver the programme That the programme is simple enough to implement That the programme will have sufficient impact That the programme works innovatively with the range of challenges that young people face in accessing economic opportunities When reviewing these factors, there are some importance nuances that should be considered when determining the objectives for programmes:
SIGNALS	This paper has alluded to the concern that large numbers of young people with a matric are not managing to access economic opportunities. Research suggests that this raises the question for other young people as to why complete matric. Data in this document already highlights concerns about the decrease in participation rates after Grade 9: this suggests the need to consider programmes that encourage young people to stay in school – and international examples highlight the value of incentives to encourage young people to do this. It also highlights the value of programmes that require a matric as these programmes create a signal that it’s important to achieve the matric.
BUILDING NETWORKS	The importance of networks, in enabling young people to access economic opportunities, has been strongly illustrated in this paper. The paper shows the extent to which those young people that are outside of these networks – where no-one in the household is working, where their home is located far from transport and/or workplaces, struggle to access opportunities. The paper also highlights the extent to which the nature of the network is likely to even determine the size of enterprise in which the young person secures work. There is a need to support interventions that build these networks: for example some of the placement programmes profiled (Harambee, Mr Price) deliberately build networks and consciously enable young people who might not traditionally have access to those networks (the ‘outsiders’) to get into them – the extent to which these networks are created, and support a wider circle of young people to access opportunities will be traced as part of the Harambee evaluation process. The LoveLife example also shows how, even if the network is not deliberately focused on providing access to job opportunities, simply being part of a network, doing work which is seen as valuable, enhances young people’s self esteem dramatically and considerably increases their chances of getting formal, full time employment. In a slightly different example, DGMT is actively working with young people that have been through these programmes to encourage an active network of young leaders: it is suggested that these young leaders can in turn create new networks – and (taking into account what has been argued in this report) perhaps in the process create new ‘insiders.’
WORK EXPERIENCE	The report has illustrated the value of young people accessing work experience. It has shown a range of models that can be supported to achieve this: workplace exposure during a programme, internships or less structured workplace experience after graduation, or as is the case with Go for Gold after matric and before beginning the programme, as well as placement into work experience, and the wage subsidy. Further, the public employment programmes offer valuable insights as to ways in which young people can develop a positive identity and the requisite skills for the workplace: the examples provided in this report offer examples such as CWP, where young people can have access to guaranteed work for 2 days a week allowing them time to also pursue other options. Youth service programmes have provided workplace experience, in many cases considerable skills development and have focused on developing values and when well run a sense of pride and the confidence to pursue a range of options.
CREATING COMPLIMENTARY PATHWAYS	The evaluations that are highlighted in this paper, suggest not only that there must be a range of programmes to address varied needs and cohorts: but also that in some cases – either as part of the institutional offering or through partnership arrangements, the young people should have access to what is described here as a continuum of programmes. To take the proposed wage subsidy as an example: if the policy is introduced, placement programmes involving powerful networks need to be in place to enable young people to benefit from the policy, or else the ‘outsiders’ will just continue their ineffective job search strategies, going ‘place-to-place’ to find work from employers. These employers may be – and initial research suggests that they will be - more willing to take these young people on, due to the subsidy, however this will be isolated from a strategy of changing employer culture with respect to new entrants, or of ensuring that the young people that are placed have been matched so that the chances of them sustaining their opportunity is likely to be higher. Programmes that have strong linkages with employers as well as effective assessment, matching and bridging capacities will be critical in this respect. Further, the DoL’s employment centres, which have a strong national footprint, are ideally placed to ensure that ‘outsiders’ could become ‘insiders’ – the extent to which they source and assess young people and then place them in programmes which have direct access to employers is seen as critical. In addition, within programmes there also needs to be more of a continuum: the Go for Gold programme is instructive here, where learners are recruited in Grade 11, taken through work experience, into further education and finally into employment. This model highlights the extent to which success is possible where young people received sustained support and access to the multiplicity of interventions required. Critically this involves role players determining what their respective contribution should be, and determining what capacity and linkages are required to enable this.
BALANCING SCALE AND INNOVATION	Flowing from the above, it is recognised that in many of the programmes, there is an on-going tension in the system relating to the need for scale whilst searching for innovation. This debate recognises that for government there will be a real need to focus on scale, though it will be important that space is created for innovation. There are a number of innovative programmes highlighted in this paper – and the temptation is to simply determine a plan to ensure that the successful programmes go to scale. However, there may be some programmes which – to succeed – will need to be contained. Such a programme could test out innovations – with respect to the nature of the programme, the institutional arrangements, the opportunities that are being supported: attention would then need to be paid as to how such a programme could be replicated or how elements of these programmes could be integrated into a larger programme. Other programmes, which have simpler designs and are easier to implement may be able to be offered to scale – for example one of the most attractive factors of the wage subsidy is its simplicity to implement. The proposals for a placement voucher have also been suggested because of their potential simplicity: though these need to be tested to establish how to ensure that the system remains simple, whilst ensuring there is sufficient levels of monitoring to ensure the quality and credibility of the service - that is, that it leads to sustainable employment. Similarly, with regards to the transport subsidy, it is noted that while it is very simple in developed countries where there is an integrated transport system, there is still a need to understand how this would work in SA: the Presidency is currently testing such an approach and whether this can be simply applied relative to the impact that it has will then need to be considered. Some institutions and initiatives may lend themselves to scale, though to enhance their level of success they may need to determine whether there are institutional and programmatic innovations that can be introduced to achieve this. For example, the PES has a well-established national footprint, and is able to work at scale. However, there are target groups that may require more labour intensive assistance than can be reasonably provided with the PES limited resources, and there are also services, interventions or target group clients, which require expertise that goes beyond the normal mandate of the PES. There is a need for the PES to explore partnerships that can enable them to work more effectively and maximise what they can achieve with the available resources. Similarly NYDA is ideally positioned – as it has direct access to government as well as NGOs - to test certain innovations, and then determine whether these should be taken to scale (as indicated, some projects may need to remain focused on smaller numbers), and where it is agreed that the programme (or elements of it) should be taken to scale there would be a need to then determine what is required to make this step-up change. This requires of funders that they are willing to fund both scale and innovation (and some funders may select innovation while another leans to scale).
LEARNING, MONITORING & EVALUATION	It was found that some of the more successful international and local programmes have ‘evolved’ over time, with changes being made to the programme or spin-offs being introduced, in response to effective evaluations of the various programmes. However, there are serious gaps in the data related to the effectiveness (or otherwise) of the various programmes initiated in this area. There is a strong need to improve on this and to create a platform for sharing learning in an ongoing way, so as to encourage greater levels of collaboration and to support the continual development of programmes.