There is a need to reconsider the approach of Public Employment Programmes (PEPs) and to structure these to upskill workers for the workplace of the future, a webinar hosted by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure on September 22 has revealed.
Development Economist consultant Liesel Eksteen said that, even before the pandemic, the world of work was changing rapidly and South African industries were shedding jobs as automation became ever more prevalent.
The onset of the pandemic and the lockdown regulations, she noted, caused major disruptions, and, by June, the country’s economy was on life support.
She said that the pandemic would continue to impact on the economy in unprecedented ways and that everyone would need to adapt to the new realities.
Eksteen noted that Covid-19 and subsequent economic shocks would impact on the world of work, reducing the number of jobs, which would exacerbate the country’s already high unemployment rate, the quality of work and the categories of work.
While she acknowledged that the Fourth Industrial Revolution generated benefits for work, in the short term, it had impacted on industries, with manufacturing, agriculture, construction, office administration and support, and food services and production seeing a negative impact.
However, the pandemic, she noted, had provided an opportunity to innovate and transform the economy.
She highlighted opportunities coming out of the pandemic as being the inclusion of digital technologies and disruptions, online entertainment and gaming, wellness, and improved ecommerce, logistics and supply chains, as well as safety
Owing to this new world of work and the future of work, Eksteen said that, in five years, 35% of skills today would be obsolete, with two out of three children starting school today set to work in roles that have not yet been created.
She noted that the present skills of people would no longer be required by employers, while the skills employers would need still had to be developed.
Therefore, she emphasised, there was a need to upskill and train people to be ready to meet this future, which would impact on children entering school, those in school and those already in employment, who would need to develop new skills.
She indicated that PEPs would need to train people for multiple earning pathways, with the world of work changed forever by the pandemic – there will no longer be a set career path, but rather multiple different jobs over a career.
In this regard, Eksteen noted that there was a need to develop both soft and hard skills.
She said the first skill set that had to be developed was human management and interaction skills – that is, emotional intelligence, negotiation and communication, besides others.
Secondly, the skill set of the interconnection between humans and machines required attention. Eksteen suggested that programmes would have to consider building the skills that connect the two, with the need to harness the power of machine and digital assets through humans integral to making the combination of the two a success.
Thirdly, she noted the skill set of cognitive flexibility and reliance, “to absorb a plethora of challenges and problems presented by an interconnected world of work”.
Meanwhile, Expanded Public Works Programme national coordinator Lungisani Dladla said the pandemic had provided an opportunity for innovation by young entrepreneurs.
Therefore, he said, PEPs needed to play a role in supporting small businesses by changing their current traditional way of operation.
Dladla called for the employment of a ‘Kasi-Nomics Strategy’ – an approach to develop and improve township and rural businesses to sustain township and rural livelihoods.
This strategy would rely on three pillars, namely developing new opportunities, revitalising existing businesses, and improving and sustaining existing businesses.