Tag: apprenticeship

Industrial operations are, like the rest of the world, facing a fundamental generational workforce change. Today, most baby boomers, those experienced operators aged between 61 and 79, are projected to retire by 2035. As a younger, more mobile generation steps in, the traditional model of long apprenticeships and gradual knowledge transfer is no longer sustainable.

South Africa’s unemployment figures are not abstract statistics. They are the lived reality of millions of parents unable to provide, of young people whose talents lie dormant, and of communities yearning for hope. We must move beyond analysis to action.

Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) is a prerequisite for doing business in South Africa, and training forms a significant portion of the B-BBEE scorecard. However, training is also critical to help address the skills shortage in the country that is only growing as we move into the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR).

In celebrating the Youth Month, we are reminded that the uprising that began in Soweto more than 40 years ago was all about education, and how it profoundly changed the socio-political landscape of the country.

The Department of Trade and Industry’s amendments to the B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice on Friday, 31 May, were published in the government gazette with very little fanfare considering the significant impact they may have on generic entities in the country. These changes to the codes and will affect businesses in terms of procurement, enterprise and supplier development as well as skills development.