Graduate Unemployment, Skills Mismatch, and the Dynamics of Labour Mobility in South Africa: A Systematic Literature Review

Countries structure their vocational education and training (VET) systems based on the demands of labor market. As the changes in labor market directly affect VET, VET is the education type which needs transformation in education system to the greatest extent. Although performance of VET depends on the relationship between VET and labor market, this fact is ignored in most countries. Under this circumstance, horizontal or vertical skill mismatches arise predominantly in labor market. When this strong interaction between education and labor market is ignored, policies to eliminate the skill mismatch focus only on VET, issues in labor market are neglected, consequently, problems cannot be solved and on the contrary, these problems become consistent. In this study, VET in Turkey is reviewed in employment and skill mismatch perspectives. Despite the high employment ratios of VTAH graduates, they are employed mostly out of their field of education, therefore, it is seen that horizontal skill mismatch is widespread. On the other hand, skill surpluses in labor market attract a considerable deal of attention. It is suggested to restructure the location and training capacity of VTAHs considering supply-demand balance. Besides, it is suggested to restructure VTAHs in such a way that they concentrate more on academic skills rather than occupationally specific skills, so VET can be more flexible and increase mobility. In addition, in VTCs, where apprenticeship training is provided through a strong collaboration with labor market, it is observed that skill mismatch is at quite low level and it is suggested to increase the capacity of VTCs due to high demand.

Graduate unemployment is a growing socio-economic challenge in Tanzania, particularly in the Geita region, where many university graduates struggle to find jobs that match their qualifications. This disconnect is largely attributed to a mismatch between the skills provided by higher education institutions and those demanded by employers. The issue has been compounded by outdated curricula, limited practical training, and insufficient soft skills development. This study investigates the impact of skills mismatch on graduate unemployment in Geita. Grounded in Human Capital Theory and Skills Mismatch Theory, the research explores how educational and labour market misalignment affects employability. Adopting a pragmatism philosophy and a mixed-methods approach, the study used a descriptive research design. Quantitative data were collected through structured surveys from 400 graduates selected via stratified random sampling, while qualitative insights were drawn from 100 semi-structured interviews. Descriptive statistics and simple linear regression were used for quantitative analysis, and thematic analysis was applied to qualitative data. Findings reveal a significant mismatch, with 52.3% of the variance in unemployment explained by skills mismatch (R² = .523, p < .001). The study concludes that revising curricula, expanding practical training, and strengthening university-industry collaboration are essential to addressing the skills gap. These findings offer important implications for higher education and labour market policy in Tanzania.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore youth graduate unemployment and unemployability as a development problem in South Africa.Design/methodology/approachThis exploratory study applied a qualitative research method to elicit the perspectives of youth graduates regarding their unemployment and unemployability. A total of 30 face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with unemployed youth who recently graduated from five South African universities.FindingsThe results indicate that, as youth graduate unemployment increases in South Africa, graduates become hopeless in terms of securing employment. The participants attributed their unemployment to multidimensional factors that include limited demand in the labour market, skills mismatch and lack of work experience.Research limitations/implicationsThis research exclusively focused on graduates from five South African universities; hence, the results of this small qualitative study cannot be generalised to the entire South African population. However, this paper offers important insights that may form the foundation for a nationwide study on a related topic.Originality/valueThis paper presents important insights that influence policy makers, government and other relevant stakeholders to develop alternative solutions to youth graduate unemployment. This paper recommends that government should play a critical role in bridging the gap between higher education and industry in order to address youth graduate unemployment. It also calls for a more cooperative effort between government, higher learning institutions and employers in order to create job opportunities for youth graduates in South Africa.

South Africa continues to battle against the constantly increasing unemployment rate despite the major improvements in the massification of higher education. Young people, in particular, are at the receiving end of the stubborn unemployment problem, and the increasing graduate unemployment is a cause for concern. This paper thus explored the perspectives of unemployed young graduates regarding the association of nepotism, favoritism, and the struggle of young graduates to find employment in South Africa. The study employed the lens of social capital theory to explain the “connections phenomenon” in relation to graduate unemployment in South Africa. Primary qualitative data was solicited through face-to-face semi-structured interviews conducted with 30 graduates. The findings indicate that young graduates perceived nepotism and favoritism as significant factors that determine the probability of finding employment, particularly in South Africa’s public sector institutions. The findings revealed that the connections phenomenon in South Africa occurs through family members, relatives, friendships, political affiliations, and professional networks. Thus, graduates without connections, particularly from poor families, are disadvantaged in the labor market. This paper concluded that high unemployment is a driving force for nepotism and favoritism in South Africa’s labor market. Therefore, addressing nepotism and favoritism largely depends on increasing the labor force demand in South Africa. Keywords: Connections, Graduate Unemployment, Nepotism, Youth.

One of the pressing concerns for governments and policy makers across the world is youth unemployment. What is even more devastating is the growing graduate unemployment, particularly in developing countries, and South Africa is no exception. Graduate unemployment in South Africa continues to increase at an alarming rate. Without drastic interventions, this socio-economic problem may sadly double in size in the next decade. Work experience programmes, such as internships, are increasingly supported to address youth unemployment, particularly among graduates. However, the effectiveness of the current interventions to the unemployment problem are questionable. This paper draws from the perspectives of 50 participants to explore the determinants of post-internship graduate unemployment. In particular, this paper adopts the lenses of mismatch theory of unemployment to explain why young people are vulnerable in the labour market irrespective of their education and work experience. The examined perspectives revealed that, beyond limited labour market demand, there is also an increasing “work experience-job mismatch” leading to post-internship graduate unemployment. Due to the number of factors, including the skills mismatch problem, the transition from higher education to full-time employment is difficult for many graduates.
 
 Received: 30 November 2021 / Accepted: 11 February 2022 / Published: 5 March 2022

Today in Nigeria, many university graduates complain of high levels of unemployment and prospects for employment have worsened over time. Despite some progress made in extending access to higher education for various groups of Nigerians seeking university education, however, the percentage of graduate unemployment has assumed alarming proportions especially for graduates of science and technology. Does the education they receive not in consonance with today’s skill requirements in the labour market or is the curriculum used in the higher institutions too outdated? The public and the press hotly debate these questions, as the questions remain very relevant to both graduates who are seeking employment and also to employers who also consider employing them. Many employers of labour usually complain that graduates are poorly prepared for work. They believe that academic standards have fallen considerably over the past decade and that a university degree is no longer a guarantee of communication skills or technical competence. As a result, university graduates are commonly viewed as “half baked.” What is the real situation? Is science graduates unemployment a serious problem? How do employers assess the qualifications of current degree-holders? How well do graduates perform when they are able to obtain employment? These concerns have prompted the present study. It seeks to answer these and other questions regarding the levels of graduate preparedness for productive employment. This study was a survey conducted in June 2007. It was based on an analysis of questionnaire distributed to managers from some public enterprises, private firms, professional associations and non-governmental organizations, the education sector and also to science graduate employees of the various establishments. The analysis of the result of the survey shows a mismatch between university outputs and labour market demands. Key words: University graduates, graduate unemployment, science and technology, public enterprises, private firms, qualifications, communication, labour market.

Career trajectories and graduate employment outcomes have been extensively studied across disciplines; however, the post-graduation pathways of National Certificate Vocational (NCV) Office Administration graduates from Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions remain under-investigated. This study, grounded in Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory (ELT), explores the career destinations of NCV Office Administration graduates from a TVET college in Limpopo, South Africa. Adopting a qualitative research design within a constructivist paradigm, data were collected using open-ended questionnaires from 13 purposively sampled graduates. Thematic content analysis revealed a significant misalignment between the skills imparted by the NCV programme and labour market demands. This skills mismatch, exacerbated by limited industry engagement, adversely affects graduate employability. Based on these findings, the study recommends the establishment of a dedicated career guidance unit within the college to support informed programme selection and career planning. Furthermore, it advocates for enhanced collaboration between the college, academic staff, and industry stakeholders to facilitate graduates’ transition into employment. Curriculum development should respond dynamically to empirical insights reflecting current labour market trends. This study contributes to the discourse on improving employability outcomes for NCV Office Administration graduates and identifies avenues for further research.

This book reports the proceedings of a conference on ‘Mismatch and labour mobility’, jointly sponsored by the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) at the London School of Economics and the Centro Interuniversitario di Studi Teorici per la Politica Economica (STEP), a joint research centre of the universities of Bologna and Venezia and the Bocconi University, Milan. The contributors examine the evidence on sectoral wage differentials, labour mobility and the ratio of unemployment to job vacancies, in detailed studies of seven countries, varying in labour market and macroeconomic structures: USA, Japan, West Germany, Sweden, UK, Italy, and Spain. Variations in unemployment rates across regions, occupations and demographics are analysed to search for insight into the growth and persistence of unemployment. Also included is a cross-country study of skills mismatch in relation to the effectiveness of training programs. The chapters are as follows: A cross-country comparison of sectoral mismatch in the 1980s / Fiorella Padoa Schioppa; Mismatch: a framework for thought / R. Jackman, R. Layard and S. Savouri [discussion / Sherwin Rosen]; Match and mismatch on the German labour market / Wolfgang Franz [discussion / Renato Brunetta]; Mismatch in Japan / Giorgio Brunello [discussion / Sushil Wadhwani]; Mismatch and internal migration in Spain, 1962-86 / Samuel Bentolila and Juan J. Dolado [discussion / Nicola Rossi]; Regional inequalities, migration and mismatch in Italy, 1960-86 / Orazio P. Attanasio and Fiorella Padoa Schioppa [discussion / Giuseppe Bertola]; Skill shortages and structural employment in Britain: a (mis)matching approach / Charles R. Bean and Christopher A. Pissarides [discussion / Ugo Trivellato]; Labour market tightness and the mismatch between demand and supply of less-educated young men in the United States in the 1980s / Richard B. Freeman [discussion / Michael Burda]; Skill mismatch, training systems and equilibrium unemployment: a comparative institutional analysis / David Soskice [discussion / Leonardo Felli]; Unemployment, vacancies and labour market programmes: Swedish evidence / Per-Anders Edin and Bertil Holmlund [discussion / Dennis J. Snower]; Mismatch and labour mobility: some final remarks / Katherine G. Abraham, S. J. Nickell.

There has been an ongoing debate on the subject of graduate unemployability in South Africa and the extent to which it has affected academic graduates. The growing consensus regarding intensifying levels of graduate employability distress today is explicitly supported theoretically in a number of research studies. This is despite the considerable efforts that have historically been made concerning the graduate labour force and their probable ramifications in the context of South Africa’s far-reaching labour market issues. A number of scholars both in the past and the present have identified several issues emerging from the heterogeneity of the quality of education, graduates’ capabilities and skills competencies, higher education institutions’ involvement in the industries and employers’ requirements for employment. This study aimed to explore the views that graduates conceive about employability and stress, reason for their unemployment and identify the factor that causes them to be unemployed and decisively suggest way to address these challenges. A quantitative approach and a questionnaire were used. A total of 195 questionnaires from graduates/students in the College of Business and Economics were recovered and usable. The findings reveal a paradox in the increased level of ICT graduate unemployment and skills mismatch and shortages. This has been attributed mostly to organisational changes which may have given rise to misalignment between the skills that graduates currently have and those that employers seek from graduates. Findings suggest that the kind of education obtained, graduates’ incapability to apply the skills received and work experience are factors hindering employability.

Graduate unemployment in Tanzania remains a significant issue, largely due to a substantial mismatch between university education and labour market demands, necessitating effective reskilling and curriculum reforms. Thus, the present study evaluates the effectiveness of Vocational Education and Training (VET) in reskilling university graduates and examines stakeholder perceptions of its suitability for enhancing employability skills. Using an interpretive phenomenological approach within a systems theory framework, data were collected through interviews with six university leaders, focus group discussions with 20 graduates, and document analysis of educational policies. Findings indicate that VET’s competency-based training effectively addresses technical skills gaps but is limited by its focus on manual trades, cultural biases, and capacity constraints. To ensure graduates’ skills align well with market needs, the study advocates for curriculum reforms integrating soft skills, digital literacy, and experiential learning, alongside industry-university partnerships and entrepreneurship education.

ملخص عربى : استهدف البحث الحالي تقديم رؤية تربوية لما يمکن القيام به لتفعيل العلاقة بين مخرجات التعليم الجامعي المصري ومتطلبات سوق العملتحديد الاطار المفاهيمي لسوق العمل المصري .تحديد أهم التحولات الحادثة في سوق العمل والمؤثرة على عمالة خريجي التعليم الجامعي المصري .توضيح أهم التغيرات المعاصرة التي يشهدها التعليم الجامعي .وقداعتمد البحث على المنهج الوصفي التحليلي المرتکز على الاستناد للدراسات والدوريات والمراجع ذات الصلة بموضوع البحث ،وأيضا جمع وتحليل البيانات الصادرة عن الجهات الرسمية المختصة لبيان حجم ظاهرة بطالة خريجي التعليم الجامعي وعلاقة ذلک بالاختلالات في سوق العمل المصري .وقد توصلت الدراسة الى مجموعة من النتائج منها:1. ارتفاع معدلات البطالة ،بما يعکس عدم التوافق بين العرض والطلب عليه ،وخاصة بين الشباب المتعلمين . کما يتسم حجم التشغيل بعدم التوازن بين القطاعات الاقتصادية المختلفة .2. ترتبط ظاهرة بطالة المتعلمين بالعديد من الظروف والمتغيرات والسياسات منها الرکود الاقتصادي ،والأزمات المالية والاقتصادية ،وتناقص فرص العمل بالدول العربية بل وعودة الکثير منها ،وأخيرا جمود التوظيف الحکومي للخريجين منذ منتصف الثمانينيات .3. ضعف قدرة سوق العمل على استيعاب مخرجات التعليم الجامعي کما أنه يتطلب مستويات عالية من المعرفة فى مجالات متنوعة .کما أوصت باعداد :1. مخرجات التعليم الجامعي بطريقة ملائمة لتلبية الاحتياجات المستقبلية لسوق العمل وتحسين الروابط بينهما، بحيث يکون لديهم المهارات والکفاءات التي ستکون هناک حاجة إليها في الاقتصاد الحديث والمجتمع الحديث وبذلک تتوافر فرص عمل لهم في هذه الأسواق .2. تجديد سياسات القبول والقيد بالجامعات المصرية بما يتوافق مع احتياجات سوق العمل، ومراجعة سياسات وأساليب القبول ،والإجراءات والأنظمة ذات الصلة بالطاقة الاستيعابية لمؤسسات التعليم العالي. ملخص انجليزى : This research aimed to provide an educational vision of what can be done to activate the relationship between the outputs of the Egyptian Higher Education and the requirements of the labor market· Define a conceptual framework for the Egyptian labor market.· Identify the most significant changes to the labor market affecting the university graduates’ employment· Clarify the most important contemporary changes in university educationThe research used a descriptive analytical approach based on the relevant body of literature on the subject, as well as data collection and analysis issued by the competent official authorities to indicate the magnitude of unemployment phenomenon among university graduates and its relationship to imbalances in the Egyptian labor market.Following are some of the key findings of the study:1. High unemployment rates, reflecting the mismatch between supply and demand, especially among educated youth. The employment volume is also characterized by imbalances between different economic sectors.2. The phenomenon of educated unemployment is linked to many circumstances, variables and policies, including economic stagnation, financial and economic crises, shrinking of job opportunities in Arab countries and even the return of labourers from them. Finally, freezing all government hiring since the mid-1980s.3. The reduced capacity of labor market to absorb the increasing university output where the increasing complexity of the labour market also requires higher levels of knowledge in various fields.We also recommend preparing:· The outputs of higher education in an appropriate manner to meet the future labour market needs and strengthen the links between them, so that they have the skills and competencies that will be needed in the modern economy and modern society. Thus, most graduates can find the right jobs for them.The Ground for renewal of the admissions and enrollment policies in the Egyptian universities in accordance with the evident needs of the labour market, and to review the policies and methods of acceptance, procedures and regulations related to the absorptive capacity in higher education institutions

In this paper, new method to analyze the skills required from labor market through different jobs recruitments websites is proposed. Skill mismatch which is one type of education-job mismatch becomes one of the major issues and mainly impacts in economic faced by various countries around the world today. There were several proposed analysis methods investigating skill mismatch problem in labor market. However, most of the methods proposed are based on Survey dataset providing the skills from young populations. This paper explores the skills demand in labor market from job recruitment websites which contribute job’s information by different job companies in Thailand. The paper makes use of multiple techniques; including web scraping, keyword extraction and visualization on scraped information from job recruitment websites. The final output is reported as word cloud for jobs description and qualification of each job function.

The demand in the labor market can be determined using a set of attributes of the need for labor. Currently, the demand for labor is determined on the basis of some information sources. Sample surveys of labor demand conducted by Rosstat make it possible to determine the amount of demand for a specific assessment date. Despite the existing shortcomings of the methodology and information, the survey enabled us to compare the data according to observation time, as well as carry out interregional comparisons. Given the representative nature of the information, we can argue about the objectivity of the comparisons. The purpose of this study was to identify the possibilities of an objective assessment of the need for labor to determine the types and varieties of demand in the regional labor market. We used the statistical data of the sample survey of the labor force conducted by Rosstat in 2018, 2020 as an informational and empirical basis of the study. The study employed theoretical and comparative analysis of the processes of labor demand formation as the most important attribute of demand. We revealed the trends of changes in the one-time demand for labor by the main segments of employees grouped based on the All-Russian classifier of occupations. The study documented the impact of covid-19 pandemic on jobs and labor market. The research determined the scale and conducted a comparative assessment of changes in labor market across the subjects of the Siberian Federal District. A comparative analysis was proposed to identify the place of Irkutsk region in the dynamics of positive changes. The author developed a new typology and put forward a classification of regional types and forms of labor market demand. Survey findings could be used as objective estimates of labor market demand.

Young people in countries such as South Africa are finding it difficult to make a successful school-to-work transition. This is exacerbated by high unemployment and uncertainty in the labour market. The South African government appears to be trying to implement a range of strategies and approaches to try and assist unemployed graduates. However, the onus is also on the graduate to look for ways in dealing with the uncertain labour market. The purpose of this research was to investigate the labour market transition and experiences of unemployed graduates within the context of high unemployment in South Africa. The research utilised an interpretivist philosophy hinging on the qualitative approach, and it used an exploratory research design. Further, a longitudinal technique was employed, tracing over a period of two years the labour market experiences and transitions of a sample of 30 graduates who had been enrolled at a historically disadvantaged higher education institution in South Africa. Data was collected from focus group discussions and unstructured individual interviews over this two-year period. The findings obtained through structural narrative analysis revealed that the labour market transition and experiences of the unemployed graduates were not negative only; some of the graduates had used their own resourceful techniques to deal with challenges. Based on the findings of the research and in view of the uncertain labour market, suggestions were made that would have resonance for not only individuals but also policymakers, career counsellors and institutions of higher learning.

Young people in countries such as South Africa are finding it difficult to make a successful school-to-work transition. This is exacerbated by high unemployment and uncertainty in the labour market. The South African government appears to be trying to implement a range of strategies and approaches to try and assist unemployed graduates. However, the onus is also on the graduate to look for ways in dealing with the uncertain labour market. The purpose of this research was to investigate the labour market transition and experiences of unemployed graduates within the context of high unemployment in South Africa. The research utilised an interpretivist philosophy hinging on the qualitative approach, and it used an exploratory research design. Further, a longitudinal technique was employed, tracing over a period of two years the labour market experiences and transitions of a sample of 30 graduates who had been enrolled at a historically disadvantaged higher education institution in South Africa. Data was collected from focus group discussions and unstructured individual interviews over this two-year period. The findings obtained through structural narrative analysis revealed that the labour market transition and experiences of the unemployed graduates were not negative only; some of the graduates had used their own resourceful techniques to deal with challenges. Based on the findings of the research and in view of the uncertain labour market, suggestions were made that would have resonance for not only individuals but also policymakers, career counsellors and institutions of higher learning.