Latest news with #youthUnemployment
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Trump's tariffs to stay in effect, more cuts to China graduate jobs: SCMP daily highlights
Catch up on some of SCMP's biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing A US federal appeal court has temporarily halted a lower-court ruling against President Donald Trump's 'Liberation Day' reciprocal tariffs, as well as a separate set of fentanyl-related levies on China, Mexico and Canada, the latest in a string of twists that leave the state of global trade hanging in the balance. China's youth unemployment rate shot up during the Covid-19 pandemic and has remained high ever since, with the country's economy – hamstrung by weak consumer demand and a prolonged real estate slump – struggling to create enough high-quality jobs to absorb a ballooning number of graduates. The Chinese embassy in Washington has issued a démarche - a routine diplomatic tool that is not usually delivered publicly - registering condemnation of the US decision to revoke Chinese student visas. Photo: AFP The Chinese embassy in Washington lodged a 'solemn démarche with the US side without delay' on Thursday amid a growing backlash, including accusations of xenophobia, within the United States towards its decision to 'aggressively' revoke Chinese student visas.
The Herald
3 days ago
- Business
- The Herald
Forty graduates turn conservation training into economic opportunity
Forty youths and women received certificates on Thursday in Bloemfontein for completing a community-based training programme hosted by Meals on Wheels in partnership with SANParks as part of a growing initiative to tackle youth unemployment, food insecurity and economic inequality in South Africa. The training focused on agriculture, food preservation, leather and beauty product manufacturing, supported by the government and private sector partners. It aims to equip vulnerable community members with hands-on skills to start their own businesses and build self-sufficiency. Seiso Mohai, deputy minister of agriculture, land reform and rural development, applauded the graduates for embracing an opportunity that links conservation with job creation. 'We must begin to see agriculture and biodiversity not only as tools for survival but as platforms for innovation and growth. What we are witnessing today is not just a graduation but a shift in how we build resilience in our rural communities,' said Mohai. Skumsa Nthanga, SANParks head of socioeconomic transformation and Vision 2040 project lead, told TimesLIVE that the programme's purpose is to empower communities, especially those near biodiversity-rich landscapes, to reclaim their heritage through sustainable economic activity. 'We want to see beneficiaries establish and run their own enterprises. Our national parks are in remote areas with limited job opportunities. This programme is about closing that gap,' she added. One of the graduates, Thulisa Mnqabisa from Nomathamsanqa, said she closed her beauty salon to join the training. 'I wanted to learn how to develop my own beauty products and eventually use them in my salon,' she said. Mnqabisa told TimesLIVE that she now plans to manufacture and distribute her beauty products to BnB houses and hotels. 'The knowledge I got here will help me employ others in my community. That's the dream.'
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
China already had a graduate jobs crisis. The trade war is making it worse
Even a master's degree from a top Hong Kong university and a string of impressive internships have not been enough to help Jethro Chen land a decent graduate job. The final-year marketing student sent out dozens of applications to Chinese internet and consumer goods companies last year, but got nothing back except a folder full of polite rejection emails. With his attempts to land a marketing internship in Hong Kong also ending in failure, Chen has been forced to push back his graduation from the Chinese University of Hong Kong by several months while he regroups. 'Fast-moving consumer goods just aren't selling,' he sighed. 'Consumers have become more rational and cautious with their spending.' Chen is one of tens of millions of highly educated young Chinese who are facing unprecedented barriers to launching their careers, as a perfect storm of domestic and global economic headwinds leads Chinese employers to slash hiring for entry-level roles. China's youth unemployment rate shot up during the Covid-19 pandemic and has remained high ever since, with the country's economy – hamstrung by weak consumer demand and a prolonged real estate slump – struggling to create enough high-quality jobs to absorb a ballooning number of graduates.
South China Morning Post
21-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
China's youth unemployment rate falls ahead of crunch graduation season
China's youth unemployment rate eased in April as the nation braces for a crunch job-hunting season that will see a record number of fresh graduates enter the recruitment market. Advertisement The urban jobless rate among those aged 16 to 24 – excluding students – fell to 15.8 per cent last month, down from 16.5 per cent in March, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday. That is the lowest youth unemployment rate China has recorded so far this year, with the metric peaking at 16.9 per cent in February. However, youth unemployment remains higher than it was during the same period last year, and there is a risk that the jobless rate will soon climb again after the academic year ends in the summer. An estimated 12.22 million people are set to graduate from Chinese universities this year, the highest ever total and 430,000 more than last year, according to official data. Advertisement China's youth unemployment rate soared during the pandemic and remains a major concern as the economy struggles to create enough high-quality jobs to absorb a swelling number of graduates.
Mail & Guardian
18-05-2025
- Business
- Mail & Guardian
Entrepreneurship key to solving SA's youth unemployment crisis
Get up, start up: Youth unemployment in South Africa increased to 44.6% in the final quarter of last year. Investing in young people to help them become entrepreneurs is one of the ways corporate social initiatives can tackle South Africa's youth unemployment crisis, business leaders said this week. They spoke as The best way to solve unemployment is by supporting small businesses and through entrepreneurship, said Tarry Blecher, chairperson of the department of education's E3 (entrepreneurship, employability and education) initiative. 'People think jobs are all in the big companies, in banks or in Telkom or in Cell C — that's not true. The vast majority of jobs in the country are in small businesses,' Blecher told a business conference in Johannesburg. The 2023 — 2024 Eighteen out of 100 people aged 24 to 34 years, and 10% of 18-to-24-year-olds, are engaged in entrepreneurial activity, said Anastacia Mamabolo from the Gordon Institute of Business Science. 'That is really shocking because the stats show that there is a really limited number of young people who are participating in entrepreneurship activities, when we compare them to those that are over 35,' she told the discussion. 'In the ages of 24 to 34, there are a lot of people with the intention [to start a business]. 'Those intentions are not translating adequately into action.' Only 8% of the population is engaging in early entrepreneurial activity or have start-up businesses,' Mamabolo noted. 'This says to us there is a lot of work that needs to be done to translate the entrepreneurial process to ensure that we actually grow the different phases and not only focus on the intention.' The report showed that total entrepreneurial activity, consisting of active businesses less than three months old and new businesses up to 3.5 years old, declined from a pandemic high of 17.5% to 8.5% in 2022‑23, below the 2019 level of 11%. Established business ownership (more than 3.5 years) almost halved, from 3.5% in 2019 to 1.8% in 2022‑23, after reaching 5.2% during the pandemic. The managing executive for corporate citizenship at Absa, Steven Zwane, noted with concern that existing businesses are not growing. 'We are not listing new companies in the Entrepreneurship requires better training for the youth, Zwane added. Taking note of the latest unemployment data from Stats SA, delegates said there was a need to rethink philanthropic strategies to support prospective young entrepreneurs, while the education system should also introduce the idea of entrepreneurship at an earlier stage. 'The challenge we have in our primary schooling education is the tension between business management and entrepreneurship education,' Mamabolo said. 'We end up teaching business management while entrepreneurship is a creativity, problem-based education that we need to offer. The other thing is, do we have the appropriate methodologies to train our learners to identify opportunities? 'We lack the mentality of saying, 'Let us shape the entrepreneurs to be high-growth businesses rather than being a business that is there to meet a particular need.' 'We also lack the notion of scaling up beyond the boundaries,' she said. Blecher also noted many youths believed they could either drop out of school and become an entrepreneur or get educated and get a job. 'The more educated you are, the more likely you are to be successful as an entrepreneur,' he said. He added that, in South Africa's challenging socio-economic climate, the youth need the support of big businesses to give them work experience, capital, networks and expertise to groom them in building a 'meaningful competitive business'.
