Graduate Unemployment in the Context of Skills Shortages, Education and Training : Findings from a Firm Survey

The paper reflects on the findings from a firm survey conducted among twenty of South Africa's largest firms across a range of sectors. The survey formed part of research conducted by the Development Policy Research Unit on graduate unemployment in South Africa. The firm interviews traversed a range of issues relating, for example, to the schooling and higher education system, the learnership programme and National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS) and the nature of skills shortages and the skills deficit. In turn, a number of detailed long- and short-run policy suggestions emanated from the interviews and background research