TUT Forum Urges Immediate AI Rollout Amid 62.8% Youth Joblessness

Stark Unemployment Landscape

South Africa’s overall unemployment rate reached 33.6 percent in the second quarter of 2026.

For workers aged 15 to 24, the jobless figure rose to a staggering 62.8 percent.

Among 25‑ to 34‑year‑olds, unemployment stood at 41.8 percent.

These numbers set the backdrop for the fifth Annual Future of Work Dialogue held in Pretoria.

The event was hosted by the Tshwane University of Technology’s Institute for the Future of Work (IFOW).

Call for Coordinated AI Action

The IFOW argued that South Africa must shift from AI policy debate to concrete implementation.

“The future of work is not a conversation about the future anymore,” said Tseliso Mohlomi, Senior Director in the Office of the Vice‑Chancellor and Principal at TUT.

“It is already here.”

Mohlomi warned that “the young South African searching for work today cannot wait another five years for institutions to perfect their strategies.”

He added, “Neither can businesses searching for skills that our education and training system is not yet producing at sufficient scale.”

The Institute noted that South Africa already possesses strategies covering the Fourth Industrial Revolution, digital transformation, innovation and skills development.

The missing piece, according to the dialogue, is coordinated implementation.

Last year’s participants proposed a National AI Implementation Council to align government, universities and industry around a measurable, time‑bound roadmap.

That council has not yet been formed, and the current dialogue seeks to revive the proposal with concrete steps and clear division of responsibilities.

IFOW emphasized that a proposal to coordinate implementation made a year ago remains unimplemented.

The dialogue therefore positioned the lack of execution as the central argument.

Bridging Skills Gaps with AI

Mohlomi highlighted a widening mismatch between employer needs and academic output.

“Employers continue to require rapidly evolving capabilities, while universities and colleges must prepare students for occupations and technologies changing faster than conventional curriculum cycles,” he said.

The Institute called for earlier identification of emerging skills by employers.

It also urged faster curriculum adaptation to keep pace with technological change.

Expanded apprenticeships and workplace learning were identified as essential levers.

Greater industry investment in the skills pipelines that businesses recruit from was also recommended.

Sector Education and Training Authorities are expected to play a role in this coordinated effort.

IFOW pinpointed immediate skills demand in cybersecurity, cloud computing, AI literacy and data engineering.

For the longer term, the Institute argued South Africa and the continent need deeper capability in microelectronics, advanced manufacturing and embedded AI systems.

These hardware‑adjacent fields represent the areas where African capacity is currently thinnest.

Mohlomi rejected the notion that technological advancement must come at the expense of employment.

He argued that AI‑enabled innovation can reinforce job creation if implementation is swift and coordinated.

The dialogue concluded with a call for measurable outcomes, timelines and shared accountability across government, business and academia.

By translating policy into action, the Institute believes South Africa can begin to reverse its soaring youth unemployment.

Why This Matters: Immediate AI implementation could align education with market demand, offering a realistic path to reduce the 62.8 percent youth unemployment rate.