THE number of South Africans under the age of 35 who are either not in full time work or education is at an all-time high — a situation that’s likely to get worse before it gets better.
With businesses crying out for skilled and workplace ready employees, the answer to addressing unemployment and the skills deficit, particularly in the ITC sector, seems to lie in corporate-funded learnerships.
This is according to Mthandazo Mabena, an analyst at Singular Systems, and Prudence Mathebula, co-founder and managing director of Dynamic DNA who offer ICT learnership programmes and practical, paid work opportunities.
As part of Singular Systems and Dynamic DNA learnerships, youngsters begin with intensive theoretical learning administered by Dynamic DNA as part of a NQF level 3 to 6 qualification. Students then put their knowledge into practice during a six-month paid learnership at Singular Systems.
“It isn’t a box ticking tick exercise for us. We only put someone on a learnership if we can take them on permanently, as this is the only way we can help to improve the unemployment rate. Encouraging someone to get an NQF without a job being offered afterwards is counterproductive.”
As Singular works in the IT sector, we understand the problems and concerns of the market better than anyone else. “There is an acute shortage of expert ICT skills, which is a real shame as I really think we could benefit from outsourcing these skills to the western world,” says Mabena.
Singualr “From our solutions architects, business analysts and engineers to our developers and project managers, all our services are done in-house. The IT sector is changing rapidly, and it is essential that people use their skills, so they don’t become stale.”
Create a talent pipeline
Funding a learnership allows you to benefit from trained talent and work-ready support. Rather than go out and recruit juniors from the market, Singular Systems creates skilled people in-house, mentoring them, and giving them the support and tools to become the best software developers in the country, if not the world.
“We craft a well-structured career path for those on our learnerships. The learners that we took on two years ago as trainee programmers are now fully qualified developers. There is usually a huge staff turnover during the learnership itself, but with a clear path for progression, everyone knows where they stand and where they are going.”
Gain maximum return on skills investment
According to Mathebula businesses can save more than 60 percent on the training costs associated with a learnership. You can also access skills funding, like tax rebates and pivotal discretionary and mandatory grants, that again will save you time and positively contribute to your bottom line.
“For a medium-sized company like ours, we only take on about 15 learnerships each year, because I know that, even if none drop out, I can absorb all of them in my business after the learnership ends,” adds Mabena. “Remember, graduates are still a trainee at junior entry level at the end of their learnership and it can take another six to eight months before that person is properly ready to bill clients. It is a long road, but once there, the return on investment cannot be matched.”
Improve your B-BBEE scorecard
Finally, Mathebula says that you can use a learnership to bolster your BBBEE compliance mandates whilst leveraging your scarce skills gap in the following areas: skills development, management control, employment equity, socio-economic development, enterprise, and supplier development.
“We align our learnerships to our BBEEE requirements, with graduates coming to us from a mix of demographics,” says Mabena. “If you choose to partner with a training provider to help administer your learnerships, then make sure they have the right BEE credentials. Dynamic DNA for example, is a 51 percent black, female-owned, B-BBEE level 2 accredited QSE training and skills development provider.”
Specialist companies like Dynamic DNA assist with end-to-end services — from SETA grant applications, assistance with WSP/ATR, recruiting, contracting, project management to workplace simulations, assessment moderation, SETA reporting, and learner employment.
