SKILLS-BASED HIRING IN SOUTH AFRICA

OUR AIMS

South Africa faces one of the highest youth unemployment rates in the world. Nearly 60 percent of young South Africans aged 15–24 are unemployed. Hiring practices remain heavily focused on formal qualifications and prior work experience, which can exclude young people whose skills were developed through informal work, unpaid care, volunteering, or running a small business. Yet, these skills are real and valuable, and they are rarely captured in a traditional CV. The project introduces an expanded skills framework on SAYouth.mobi that makes these "unseen" skills visible to employers, and tests whether doing so leads to better hiring outcomes, particularly for women and young people without formal qualifications.

Research Questions

  • Does making non-traditional skills visible to employers increase interview rates and job matches?
  • Do job postings that describe skills rather than credentials lead to better matches?
  • Does skills-based hiring open up new pathways for women and young people without post-secondary education?

ABOUT THE PROJECT

CSAE researchers Christian Meyer (Oxford Martin School), Brynde Kreft (Blavatnik School of Government), and Yacine Ouahioune (Blavatnik School of Government), together with Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator and Tabiya, are running a large-scale evaluation of skills-based hiring on SAYouth.mobi, South Africa’s national youth employment platform. The platform connects over 4.3 million young people to job opportunities. The project examines whether recognising skills gained through informal and “unseen” work improves employment opportunities for young people.

RESULTS

Project ongoing, results to follow.

PROJECT DETAILS

Timeline
TBC

Location
South Africa

World map with a red dot over the country South Africa

Theme
Firms, Farms and Labour

Associations
Photo credit Barry Christianson for Tabiya

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harambee youth employment accelerator logo