The Department of Employment and Labour, in collaboration with other government departments, Sector Education and Training Authorities and the John Taolo Gaetsewe District Municipality, will host a careers fair as part of National Careers Week from May 24 to 26.
THE DEPARTMENT of Employment and Labour, in collaboration with other government departments, Sector Education and Training Authorities (Setas) and the John Taolo Gaetsewe District Municipality, will host a careers fair as part of National Careers Week from May 24 to 26.
Department of Employment and Labour spokesperson Teboho Thejane pointed out that the Northern Cape had the highest youth unemployment rate in the country.
“According to Stats SA’s quarterly labour force survey for the first quarter of 2023, the unemployment rate for youths between the ages of 15-34 years in De Aar stood at 54.5 percent.
“The causes of unemployment in the Province are said to be a lack of skills and training, limited access to resources and opportunities and a shortage of jobs,” said Thejane.
He added that the Deputy Minister of Employment and Labour, Boitumelo Moloi, officially launched the Employment and Labour Centre in De Aar on Wednesday.
“The centre will assist the unemployed to register for work opportunities and provide access to job search and other opportunities for assisting them to secure employment or training opportunities.”
The centre is equipped with stations and self-help kiosks that provide access to the Department of Employment and Labour online applications and services and supporting partners’ platforms.
A flat-screen TV is mounted at the employment centre to display all available services of the department and available opportunities on Employment Services of South Africa (ESSA) – a job match-making platform.
The centre also acts as an assessment area for use by career counsellors.
Moloi appealed to the De Aar community to desist from vandalism and destruction of state property when feeling aggrieved and to protect the employment centre.
“I do not want to come back here and find things broken.“
Thejane added that the department’s online job matching platform had registered 34,000 work seekers in De Aar during 2022/23 with 6,411 employment opportunities.
“The labour centre in the same period provided employment counselling to 13,440 registered work seekers. The centre also placed 3,358 work seekers.”
He noted that De Aar was a major producer of wool and livestock farming and had a vital railway junction.
Thejane added that Moloi would address employers in Kuruman and surrounding areas on May 25 to 26.
“Moloi will also launch the Public Employment Service mobile buses. The gathering will also be used to register job seekers on the department’s Employment Services System of South Africa (ESSA) and an opportunity to be assessed for career choices. This will also include a number of presenters giving tips to job seekers on their job search.”
The deputy director-general of Public Employment Services, Sam Morotoba, stated that the careers fair would create an opportunity for work seekers to meet with prospective employers and other organisations or departments that could assist with their placement in different forms of employment or learning opportunities.
“Another purpose of these events will be to expose work seekers to the different types of employment opportunities and avenues that they can explore. This can be achieved through the assistance of the employment counsellors who will provide their expertise in training work seekers on job hunting skills, how their curriculum vitae should be structured, networking and interview skills.”
Morotoba stated that the fair would offer the unemployed, retrenched, learners, parents, career development practitioners and employers assistance with work seeker registration, motivational talks, job hunting skills, curriculum vitae writing, completing Z83 application forms, networking and interviewing skills.
