South Africa's unemployment rate has increased significantly over the years as a result of changing economic climate conditions.

SAGDA has also over the years observed a high demand for quality and industrious graduates in the workplace from the various sectors and industries. The current education system does not prepare competent and qualified graduates that are work ready. Currently, according to the recent statistics, we have about more than 15 000 graduates in South Africa that are unemployed and are not absorbed by potential employers which are on the SAGDA database. On the other hand, the workplace has a lot of vacant positions on critical skills that are in demand.

SAGDA in collaboration with strategic partners (educational institutions, corporates, training institutions, SETAs and likeminded community organizations) from national to local level has designed interventions/programmes that prepare unemployed graduates to be work ready based on the industry requirements from potential employers. SAGDA plays a facilitative role to get the unemployed graduates to be permanently absorbed by potential employers and leverage from any opportunities identified by SAGDA for learnership, internship, entrepreneurship and other sustainable livelihoods programs to address the issue of poverty, unemployment and job creation.

The South African Graduates Development Association has observed the emergence of a new plight faced by unemployed graduates. There is a new cohort of qualified graduates that have been placed and completed the Internships, Work Integrated Learning and Workplace Experience programmes to acquire experiential training opportunities but remain unemployed. These graduates have exhausted the value chain of skills development from School, Varsity or TVET to Internships, WIL and Workplace Experience.

The emerging trend is that the new cohort of qualified graduates that have been placed and completed the Internships, Work Integrated Learning and Workplace Experience programmes to acquire experiential training opportunities remains unemployed. Then then attempt to use the Internships, WIL and Workplace Experience programmes as a means of employment which defeats the intended purpose and objectives of the skills developments.