HOSPITALITY NEWS

#YouthMonth: Upskilling youth is key to opportunities in the tourism and hospitality industry

17 JUN 2016 |  BY: KIM VILJOEN

Youth unemployment remains one of the most significant challenges facing South Africa, with young people three times more likely to be unemployed than their elder counterparts. The latest youth unemployment and health report from Statistics South Africa revealed that of the 19,7 million young people in the country, only 6,2 million were employed.

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While most sectors do not have enough jobs available to fill the demand of young job seekers, others struggle to find workers qualified for the jobs they do need to fill. Furthermore, in a low-income economy such as South Africa, many cannot afford the time to upskill through tertiary institutions due to the pressing need to provide for themselves and their families. 

The South African government has identified the tourism and hospitality sector as a major creator of jobs and has encouraged young citizens to consider a career in tourism. As of July 2015, the government has even put into place various training and skills development programmes to enable young people to enter the tourism industry. 

Educate24 is an online portal that offers courses on a wide variety of subjects across all the major industries, and included is ‘Introduction to Customer Service’. The course is designed to explain the importance and benefits of good customer service, how to determine what customer’s needs and expectations are and how to deal with unhappy customers. The course is written simply and clearly, to suit the needs of people at any skill level. It can be done in just six weeks, or less, depending on the pace of the student. It is also affordable so people from different economic backgrounds stand to benefit. 

For employees or job seekers in hospitality, having a proven soft skill such as customer service is invaluable. Not only will learning such skills help make job seekers more employable but showing the initiative to acquire a qualification despite a possible lack of opportunities in the formal tertiary education sector, can make the difference when a potential employer is flooded with CVs.

South Africa’s hospitality sector is poised for significant growth over the next few years due to the growing tourism numbers. Despite economic uncertainty, PricewaterhouseCoopers released statistics that said the total number of foreign visitors to South Africa is steadily rising each year. In addition to the growing number of opportunities, the hospitality industry is also well-resourced to offer meaningful work and career development opportunities to employees. There are many entry-level jobs available with plenty of room to grow professionally and personally. 

For young South Africans unsure of which industry to join, or how to move further up their career ladders, online courses such as Educate24’s Customer Service course, is a solid way to ensure they are a step ahead and are able to show a skill set that makes them the ideal candidate.