Creative Solutions To Bridge South Africa’s Skills Gap

South Africa is facing a serious mismatch between the types of skills it produces, and what it increasingly needs. Citing the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report, PwC reiterates what many people know—droves of South African high school, college and university graduates simply do not have the skill sets required to be competitive in a global context.

These are deep challenges for a developing nation. All players in society, not least of all the private sector, have a major opportunity to help create these skills. High unemployment is a ticking time bomb, meaning that solutions must be delivered at scale. To escape the threat, the only way is to position skills delivery is within a digital framework to ensure no one is left behind.

Hiring companies all over the country want to see better candidates. They understand that the skills of the present and the future must be digitally enabled. Is a company even relevant if it does not realize this? There has recently been encouraging but limited evidence of schools and universities doing their part to correct curriculums and help make graduates more employable. But for the sake of urgency, now is the time for private sector firms to step up because South African businesses are not receiving a steady supply of digital skills needed to compete and thrive.

South African school leavers have all the passion and potential required to learn and grow. What they need is a pathway to acquiring the right skills. Reversing rising levels of unemployment and poverty in South Africa depends on how rapidly digital training and skills development programmes can be rolled out.

Taking the creative economy as an example, it is clear what can be achieved when restless graduates are given world leading tools to develop their ideas and monetize them. Adobe, a globally trusted and recognised brand said recently that over 165 million people joined the creator economy since 2020. This is exactly in line with what organisations like the World Economic Forum are saying, that crucial future job skills will include creativity, originality and initiative.

Learning Curve, as a locally-based platinum Adobe reseller with coveted Edu Elite Status, has already done notable work in bridging the digital literacy gap by providing software training material. Using Adobe as an instantly-recognizable brand, South African companies can leverage the global scale of Adobe’s Education Program and product leadership.

At Learning Curve, we offer more than just unbeatable Adobe software prices, but we are also renowned for our specialist product knowledge and support which is targeted at facilitating the holistic digitalisation of organisations we partner with. We provide world-class technology that is designed and tested to get the best out of teams, empowering them to hone their own creative voices. By partnering with us, you could use digital tools to help solve South Africa’s unemployment crisis. To find out more about our involvement in addressing the skills gap click here alternatively contact one of our internal Solution Specialists.

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