I'm a 20-year-old young female who officially finished school in June of 2012. Looking for a job in this "economic climate" is extremely hard for an "entry-level" person, and it's extremely harder for a "degree toting" university graduate.
This little write up is to bring more light to an already well-known issue that despite it being brought up numerous occasions is still ongoing and is not even getting better. Yes we have YTEPP, NESC,OJT, etc. However, a human being can't live on $2,800 a month as after groceries, giving parents money, buying clothes or toiletries, travelling, etc, there is no money left to save.
Aside from that, some companies are using these "recruitment agencies" to enslave and underpay these young people that have now come out of school with great subject passes. These companies also mistreat these "fresh meat" so much so that these young people become disgruntled.
I have a friend, a news reporter with great CAPE passes who is getting $2,800 under the OJT programme, while there are people who are getting $4,000-$5,000 with little to no educational background, sitting down in a position on their BB doing nothing, yet they are the ones who are getting money.
What does this say to our youth? That having an education means nothing? Your education is not valued? Now I'm not saying if you don't have an education you should not get paid, because there are some skilled uneducated people that deserve those types of wages. I'm saying we need to stop encouraging these paid "couch potatoes" and hire some hard working people.
Additionally, we have university graduates who are doing degrees that won't get them a job due to the fact that they're not studying to be lawyers and doctors. Yes, there is a great demand for these professions, however we concentrate on these professions so much so that we have a large demographic of university students unemployed, that can't practice a profession they would love to be in because we do not provide a platform for them.
Then we wonder why our country is suffering from "brain drain" or Nicki Minaj likens our country to Somalia or wherever.We educate our youth and then we don't provide any substantial platforms for them or even pay them what they deserve.
In essence, I believe we as both employers and employees need to work harder; we need to strive for better and do better. We need to build a platform where our mistakes teach us and not break us. As a country and a Government, we need to provide opportunities at home for our young people who do not have experience, provide a well-paying job that is matched to our education and skill, promote hard work and work ethic–not laziness.
Hopefully, I'll get a job soon because I would love to go to university and be able to pay for it, as well as survive, but it's looking so unlikely, because even with all my education and little work experience, I have no connections so it's even harder for me to get a job, and easier for me to be educated, unemployed with no connections and broke.
Kari Nah,
via e-mail