Technology is changing the future of jobs.
Unemployment is the biggest issue that we are facing in South Africa today. The unemployment rate percentage has now risen to 28% and still growing as stated by Stats SA in 2019. The research also shows that the youth aged between 15-24 years are the most vulnerable in South African labor market as the employment rate for this age group was 55.2% in the first quarter of 2019. The lack of digital skills in South Africa is one of the major complications that’s influencing the rapid rise of unemployment rate. The growth of digital transformation in the global ecosystem has brought a lot of opportunities that plays a huge role in economic growth of a country, however these openings are demanding digital skills. In the SONA 2019 president Ramaphosa revealed that they are working on the new curriculum which will assist school children with learning the new digital skills that are in demand globally. The curriculum will include but not limited to Coding, AI, block chain machinery, the internet of things and capabilities in data analytics.
The lack of digital skills is still the main factor that is limiting unprivileged countries from economic growth. We live in the world where technology is continuously growing and expanding its capabilities to function better and be more helpful to human beings. This however has proven to be more of a threat than an aid to people living in developing countries because of the fear of losing their jobs. Research by McKinsey states that 45% of all current jobs could be automated with the present technology. Do we need to be terrified by this? Absolutely No! Remember machines can only do what we program them to do but the emotional intelligence and the aptitude to influence creative machines will always remain with the people. The rising machinery can only replace us by doing all the things we really never enjoyed doing.
The takeover and the influence of the new technology aims to change the entire job world. More creators and inventors are to be discovered. Automation is already playing a huge role in the unemployment of most South Africans, machines are replacing people on their jobs. Standard Bank recently retrenched quiet a number of people with the aim of transforming their business into digital. The digital transformation process is setting a new trend for the people in the job world. People will be required to be creative inventors and creators that will build machines that can solve our daily problems. Through unlearning old knowledge and processes we are able to learn the new technology and how we can use it to benefit our lives, the school system, businesses and the economic growth of the country at large. If people don’t take the advantage of learning the new technology then we will end up with unemployable people, hence the unemployment rate is continuing to rise quickly. The digital skills are now in demand for any career you might choose to pursue.
Starting more programs like Digify Africa and Umuzi to challenge the youth in developing themselves with the digital skills can prove to be more helpful to the growth of the country especially economically. There’s a rapid growth of businesses that fail even before the beginning and businesses that are currently not doing so well, while so much money is invested in them. So, clearly the issue is not the money but it’s the lack of knowledge and the marketing skills that are digital. Once business owners and aspiring business owners can take full advantage of the technology and the advanced digital marketing skills, then more successful business will rise in South Africa. With the rise of AI, Machine-learning and Deep-learning big companies like MIT, Oracle and large management firms are adopting these technologies to accelerate their businesses. The world can only get better with you and the tech.
Thank you for reading through.
Thamsanqa Pasiya
