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Most graduates in South Africa find themselves unemployed or unemployable because universities are not giving them adequate skills for the job market. So said Tseliso Mohlomi, senior director at the Tshwane University of Technology’s (TUT’s) Institute for the Future of Work . He added that the rapid advances in technology also means the courses being offered by universities are behind the developments and these courses will soon become irrelevant.
The institute is now partnering with global technology companies to offers students short courses that prepare them for the job market. TUT is the largest contact university in South Africa and on the African continent, enrolling approximately 60 000 students annually at six campuses across South Africa. The university launched the Institute for the Future of Work in 2021.
It is a hub for global public-private collaboration and intervention in response to the rapidly-changing world of work driven by the fourth industrial revolution. The Institute for the Future of Work is establishing research labs within verticals, such as the internet of things and sensor technologies; cyber security and cloud computing; artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and mixed reality; blockchain and fintech innovations; as well as automation and AI. Mohlomi noted that graduate unemployment continues to be a big problem in the country.
According to Statistics South Africa’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey, the unemployment rate for university graduates between the ages of 15 and 34 was 33.6% in the first quarter of 2023. This suggests that about one in three of this age group’s university graduates are having trouble finding work.
“The Institute for the Future of Work came into being to assist the university with one of the challenges that it was facing, which is the future of work,” Mohlomi said. “The minister (of higher education and training) was recently asked about the surging number of unemployed graduates, which had grown to 13%. For TUT, as the largest contact university, it means the majority or some of those unemployed graduates are coming from our institution.
“We had to diagnose the problem and saw that there is a huge gap between academia and the industry.” Traditionally, he said, institutions of higher learning are supposed to serve as a pipeline that produces the labour force. “However, over the years, we found that the curriculum and the type of labour force we are producing is not in sync with what the industry wants.
So, TUT is looking to close that gap and make sure our graduates are a perfect match for the jobs they are applying for. The reason for that is with the emergence of technology, the traditional skills have been lost and, therefore, the institutes of higher learning are supposed to adjust.” Mohlomi added that the institute’s role is to be the ear of the university in the industry, for the varsity to be able to understand the emergence of technology and its implications in the job market.
“In understanding that, we then go back to the university to influence the curriculum. We advocate on behalf of the university and the students to say to the industry: ‘Let us work together to ensure that we avert any danger of our students becoming unemployed or unemployable.’ “We are doing a lot of research to ensure we produce what the industry wants.
Our research output will then address the problems of the society. As the Institute for the Future of Work, our role is to understand what the industry wants to innovate on and then we influence the university’s innovation agenda.” He stated that the institute collaborates with the industry on innovations and then commercialises these innovations.
“In the past few days, there has been discussions about DeepSeek, another version of AI, and how it shook the American stock markets. We are in an era whereby technology and innovations are happening quite rapidly. What is relevant today might not be relevant tomorrow.
” Asked about the current degree offerings in the digital age, he said across institutions of higher learning, most of the qualifications are not relevant for the job market. “In recent research, the World Economic Forum on the future of jobs has some quite interesting observations. It says the areas that are expected to surge in terms of employment are agriculture and construction.
Within the technology space, there is a surge in demand for skills such as data analytics as well as AI.” He pointed out that universities across the globe are trying to evolve in order to provide what the industry needs. Mohlomi noted that the institute is working with the industry to provide micro-credentials – short courses that are industry-certified and recognised.
“Last year, we partnered with IBM to introduce courses such as cyber security and artificial intelligence. We had a good uptake, with about 600 TUT students registering. The plan is now to introduce more of that.
“Micro-credentials are just trying to buy us time to prepare this cohort because reform and changes in the curriculum do not happen overnight. There is a lot of bureaucracy and you will find that sometimes it takes three to five years to introduce a new module into the system. “Many companies are now developing courses that are relevant to their environments and we are now bringing those short courses to the institution, while our students are pursuing their mainstream degrees.
“In partnership with Microsoft, last year we launched the Microsoft Advanced Skills Digital Academy for those who have graduated but looking to upskill themselves.”.
