Promotion of Digital Entrepreneurship for Youth Employability in the Post Covid-19 Era

Introduction

The COVID-19 crisis has resulted in economic shutdown, leaving millions of people out of work, with young people, women and less-skilled people worst affected. Global youth unemployment rate is three times higher than for adults, and the global recession is thus expected to result in the loss of twenty five million jobs, with these young people be the hardest hit by the recession (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development)(OECD, 2018). Kasid (2020) reported that during 2008 economic crisis, one in ten jobs in Europe held by workers under 30 were lost while half of working young people lost their jobs between 2008 and 2014 in Spain, Greece and Ireland. Despite economic recovery, youth unemployment rate stagnated since 2010 and never recovered to pre-2008 economic crisis levels (OECD, 2018). South Africa’s youth unemployment rate is among the highest in the world and it has increased from 38.9% at the end of 2018 to 40.1% at the end of 2019 (Statistics SA, 2020). This is further compounded by a 16% decline in entrepreneurial skills among youth (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2019). As stated by Kasid (2020) one in five young people were Not in Employment Education or Training (NEET) pre COVID-19, and two-thirds of them were young women. Young black women are most vulnerable to underemployment due to lack of access to networks, limited social capital and resources to further their studies or develop their skills (Baldry, 2015). These young women that make up over half of the youth unemployed will therefore find it harder than ever to close the gender gap in post COVID-19.

The reality of a stagnant economy and dwindling job opportunities as a result of COVID-19 crisis thus calls for a need to find new ways to create youth self-employment. This crisis is thus forcing economies and companies to speed up digitalization and combat youth unemployment through the promotion of digital entrepreneurship development. Dy, Martin and Marlow (2018) pointed out that understanding digital entrepreneurship as a way to create jobs and careers not only assist in understanding the thinking patterns of youth but also helps better comprehend the current and future global labour market trends and dynamics. Digitalization may be considered as one of the coupling mechanisms between different dimensions of the socio-economic system (technological, social, economic and ecological) (Satalkina & Steiner, 2020). Hamilton and De Klerk (2016) concur that a solution-oriented approach to combating youth unemployment requires that the country pay more attention to entrepreneurship as an alternative to formal employment specifically digital entrepreneurship and the monetizing of social media in the wake of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Digital entrepreneurship can be defined as entrepreneurial opportunities being created and pursued through the use of digital platforms and other information communicating equipment (Giones & Brem, 2017). It is a business activity which takes place primarily online or on a digital medium, and this form of business allows companies or individuals to expand their target market, reaching more people than the traditional storefront (Dy, Martin & Marlow, 2018). On the other hand, entrepreneurship, can be described as self-employment (Gohman, 2012). In this regard, digital entrepreneurship can be described as a sub-category of entrepreneurship that incudes enterprises that are actively employing and creating new novel technologies, as well as enterprises undergoing digital transformation through the adoption of digital technologies (Hansen, 2019). Novel technologies such as mobile and social solutions, cloud computing, data analytics as well as digitization of manufacturing offer a new range of opportunities for business services in the digital economy (Bogdanowicz, 2015). The entrepreneurs involved in the digital entrepreneurship are then described as digital entrepreneurs while ventures or firms which provide economic and social value for their communities are referred to as digital enterprises (Zhao & Collier, 2016). In embracing digital technologies, digital entrepreneurs are realizing the potential of digital devices and systems, such as the smartphone, the internet, social media and cloud computing in exposing new markets and opportunities, resulting in the growth of new digital enterprises (Hansen, 2019). The greater use of advanced digital technologies by youth and Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) can boost both economic growth and employment (European Commission, 2015). The country thus need to promote digital entrepreneurship to prepare youth in post COVID-19 era by equipping them with innovative and creativity skills in this digital economy, through using various digital technologies.