<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve heard it before: today\u2019s students must prepare for jobs that don\u2019t yet exist. It\u2019s a quandary that puzzles parents and youth alike when subject selections need to be made and aptitude tests are conducted.<\/p>\n
A quick search of current vacancies, however, suggests that the future may have dawned already. Roles such as AI relationship manager, prompt engineer and AI governance specialist are already appearing alongside established professions that are also fundamentally reshaped by technology.<\/p>\n
The statistics can seem overwhelming. The World Economic Forum\u2019s Future of Jobs Report 2025 highlights the scale and pace of labour-market change.<\/p>\n
By 2030, a combination of technological, demographic, economic and green-transition trends will have displaced 92 million existing jobs. Yes, it will create approximately 170 million new ones, but who knows what those will look like?<\/p>\n
In a world where the World Economic Forum estimates that over 600 million additional jobs will have to be created to keep up with the demand from young people entering the labour market by that same year, a question flashes in neon lights How are we preparing the youth and current students?<\/p>\n
In South Africa, the debate has often been reduced to the topic of a simple skills gap.<\/p>\n
The term appears in economic reports, policy discussions and boardrooms across the country. Employers struggle to find suitably prepared people, even as large numbers of graduates and young people struggle to find work.<\/p>\n
Dr Riaan Steenberg,\u00a0executive director\u00a0of Eduvos, one of South Africa\u2019s largest private higher education institutions, argues that this familiar diagnosis is too simplistic.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t only have a skills gap in South Africa. We have a shortage gap, an alignment gap and an experience gap,\u201d says Steenberg.<\/p>\n
He argues that understanding those three gaps, and how they reinforce one another, is critical if South Africa is to build the talent it needs to compete in a rapidly changing global economy.<\/p>\n
A game of threes<\/p>\n
South Africa\u2019s labour market is characterised by two seemingly contradictory realities: persistently high unemployment (32.7% in the first quarter of 2026) and a simultaneous shortage of critical skills.<\/p>\n
The challenge is therefore less about an absolute lack of talent than a mismatch between the skills employers need, and those entering the labour market.<\/p>\n
Yet even if these two gaps are closed, a third remains.<\/p>\n
Too many bright-eyed graduates enter the workplace with a qualification, but without the practical experience and workplace readiness that employers increasingly expect.<\/p>\n
Closing all three gaps, Steenberg argues, is essential if South Africa is to build a workforce capable of competing globally.<\/p>\n
Producing the future graduate<\/p>\n
Steenberg doesn\u2019t believe all recognisable vocations will be made obsolete by AI.<\/p>\n
\u201cAccounting, law, computing, design, bioscience, business \u2026 any other field. These are not going away,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
For him, AI is not replacing expertise; it is increasing its value.<\/p>\n
As generative AI becomes capable of producing reports, code, designs and research in seconds, the differentiating skill is no longer simply producing information. It is understanding whether that information is accurate, relevant and useful.<\/p>\n
What you know becomes less important than understanding why that knowledge is important.<\/p>\n
This changes what higher education needs to develop.<\/p>\n
Future graduates require three complementary capabilities.<\/p>\n
The first is deep disciplinary expertise \u2013 whatever field they choose, students still need a solid grounding in their chosen profession;
\nThe second is digital fluency \u2013 graduates must be comfortable working alongside technologies such as AI, understanding both their capabilities and their limitations; and
\nThe third is what employers increasingly describe as distinctly human capabilities: analytical thinking, communication, creativity, collaboration, ethical judgement and adaptability.<\/p>\n
The World Economic Forum echoes Steenberg\u2019s arguments in a June 2026 opinion piece. It states that while jobs that didn\u2019t exist prior to the era of artificial intelligence are emerging in the space where AI meets data, cyber security and human governance, a tertiary degree still matters thanks to the importance of skills such as analytical thinking, structured problem-solving and depth of knowledge.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe AI-born economy is not a threat to human work; it is a redefinition of it, and there remains a large and meaningful role for humanity in the workforce,\u201d the article reads.<\/p>\n
Steenberg summarises: \u201cThe competitive graduate is not human or digital. The competitive graduate is human plus digital.\u201d<\/p>\n
The two streams of the economy<\/p>\n
That Human 2.0 won\u2019t necessarily always fit neatly into a cookie-cutter vacancy slot.<\/p>\n
Perhaps, says Steenberg, it is time to stop viewing higher education primarily as a pipeline into employment. Rather, view it as a catalyst for economic participation beyond standard employment.<\/p>\n
\u201cEducation alone does not create jobs. People who are educated are more likely to contribute productively, identify opportunities and create the jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Viewed through this lens, it becomes a tale of two talent pipelines.<\/p>\n
The first is the delivery stream: graduates with the technical expertise to strengthen existing industries and contribute productively from their first day at work.<\/p>\n
The second is the generative stream: graduates who identify opportunities, establish businesses, develop new products and create employment for others.<\/p>\n
South Africa needs both.<\/p>\n
The country cannot innovate without entrepreneurs, nor can it grow without skilled professionals capable of delivering those innovations at scale.<\/p>\n
This is particularly relevant as industries such as mining, manufacturing, renewable energy and digital services undergo rapid technological transformation. Rather than replacing these industries, future-ready graduates can modernise and strengthen them.<\/p>\n
Graduates who contribute from day one <\/p>\n
Producing more graduates armed with the skills required for the future economy solve gaps one and two. To address the third gap, Eduvos integrates workplace experience into its model.<\/p>\n
For Eduvos, says Steenberg, graduate readiness is designed into learning through employer partnerships, work-integrated learning, digital capability, Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) pathways and learning models that enable students from diverse backgrounds to access higher education.<\/p>\n
To prepare our education system for this outcome, Steenberg argues for targeted partnerships that will bring governments, employers, education providers, and professional bodies together around a very practical promise that a student should not leave a career-oriented qualification with only a certificate and a transcript.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey should have experience and a structured exposure to authentic work,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Closing the gaps together<\/p>\n
Closing South Africa\u2019s shortage, alignment and experience gaps will require partnership rather than prescription.<\/p>\n
Government has an important role in setting standards, widening access and ensuring quality, but it cannot solve these challenges through regulation alone.<\/p>\n
The pace of technological change demands an education system that can evolve alongside industry, experiment with new delivery models, and build closer relationships with employers.<\/p>\n
As Steenberg cautions: \u201cWe need to embrace the future, not throttle it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brought to you by Eduvos.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Moneyweb does not endorse any product or service being advertised in sponsored articles on our platform.<\/p>\n
#Closing #gaps #higher #education #strengthen #South #Africas #talent #pipeline<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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