Impact of ICTs for Sustainable Development of Youth Employability

Introduction

The rate of unemployment is escalating in the third world. In countries such as South Africa, unemployment has risen over the years, from 21.5% to almost 28.0% (Statistics SA, 2018), and it still continues to be on the rise. Unemployment refers to when persons above a specified age (usually above 15) are not in paid employment or self-employment and are currently available for work (OECD, 2003). The Quarterly Labour Force Survey of 2018 (Statistics SA, 2018) claims 6.2 million South Africans are now unemployed, and 4.3 million have been unemployed for a year or longer. There was a steep decline in employment (down by 237, 000) and an increase in unemployment (up by 62, 000) between the first quarter of 2019 and the fourth quarter of 2018; this led to a decline in the labour force participation rate, which was at 59.3% at the time of this study (Statistics SA, 2019).

The South African unemployment rate in the 1^st quarter of 2019 increased by 0.5 percentage points, to 27.6% (Statistics SA, 2019). Moreover, youths are significantly affected by the high unemployment rate (Marumo & Sebolaaneng, 2019). The rate of youth unemployment in South Africa has increased to 58.2% in the third quarter of 2019, from 56.4% in the first quarter of 2018. Remarkably, the South African youth unemployment rate averaged 52.65% in 2013, increased to 58.2% in 2019, and reached a record low of 48.80% in the fourth quarter of 2014 (Table 1 presents the rate of youth unemployment).

To tackle unemployment and boost economies, most developing countries are propagating the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), and the adoption of technology in the industries is a necessity (Bloem, Van Doorn, Duivestein, Excoffier, Maas & Van Ommeren, 2014). Countries like South Africa are in need of digital skills as forerunners of the 4IR era to boost their economy (Fernández-Sanz, Gómez-Pérez & Castillo-Martínez, 2017; Bloem et al., 2014; Attwood, Diga, Braathen & May, 2013). The country has therefore compelled social partners, research institutions and higher education institutions to adopt the use of information communication and technologies (ICTs) as a possible approach to job creation (Calitz, Poisat & Cullen, 2017).

In order to adopt digital skills, the use of ICT has become crucially important in many countries and have been used as a possible intervention to tackle unemployment (Michael & Samson, 2014). ICTs are those technologies that interlink information technology devices, such as computers and internet connection, with communication technologies like telephones and their telecommunication networks. Michael and Samson (2014) explored the impact of ICTs on the youths and its vocational opportunities in Nigeria. The scholars claim that the unemployment rate has been on the increase globally and has become an epidemic that affects the socio-economic buoyancy of any country (Van Broekhuizen & Van Der Berg, 2016). They claim the high rate of youth unemployment over the years has been used by political aspirants to canvass citizens for political agenda and support in elections, and over time the issue of unemployment has not been adequately addressed (Van Broekhuizen & Van Der Berg, 2016). Hence, the use of ICTs for information gathering and skills development can contribute to overcoming the unemployment epidemic. This indicates that the advent of ICT to access information on industry requirements for improved employability is needed (Michael & Samson, 2014). Ghosh (2011:1) defined ICTs as “A range of electronic technologies which when converged in new configurations are flexible, adaptable, enabling and capable of transforming organisations and redefining social relations”. Moreover, while international organisations such as the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development (UNCSTD) claim the costs of using ICTs to build national information infrastructures that contribute towards innovative knowledge societies are high, the cost of not doing so are likely to be much higher if not implemented in countries (Balouza, 2019; Kamel, 2010).