In desperate times, desperate measures provide hope.
That’s explains why some strongly believe the youth subsidy is a cure-all to the country’s high youth unemployment. But it might be naive to put all eggs in one basket.
CEO of labour broker Adcorp, Richard Pike, observed the youth wage subsidy would only bring temporary relief and not reduce the high number of unemployable young people. “It would benefit matriculants and temporarily slow down the trend of replacing people with machines.” Instead, he explained that the permanent solution was a person’s ability, training, productivity and flexible labour legislation.
The Employment Tax Incentive Act came into effect on January 1. Employers could, in the first year, claim back half the salary of a young employee (aged between 18 and 29) earning at least R2 000 a month.