SSP Brochure:Layout 1 - INSETA

3.2.4 UnemploymentThe Labour Force Surveys (LFSs) conducted biannually by Statistics South Africa give some indication of the untapped resources in thelabour market, that is unemployed people with qualifications or experience that might be appropriate for the insurance sector. Accordingto the February 2006 survey, there were approximately 2,2 million economically active 51 people in South Africa with post-matricqualifications. Of these, 535 600 (24%) had qualifications in the field of business, commerce and management studies. More than two thirds(67%) of the people qualified in this field of study had post-matric diplomas or certificates; 23% had degrees and 10% had postgraduatedegrees.Of the 535 600 potential workers in this field, 88 500 (17%) were unemployed at the time of the survey. The unemployment rate differsmarkedly for people at different qualification levels. For those with only a post-matric diploma or certificate, the unemployment rate was22%. However, the unemployment rate dropped to 1% for those with postgraduate qualifications. (Table 3-4)Table 3.4 The economically active workforce with post-Grade 12 qualifications in business, commerce and management studiesHighest qualificationPopulation groupEmployed Unemployed TotalN % N % NAfrican 139 542 65 74 155 35 213 698Coloured 9 696 82 2 119 18 11 816Diploma/Certificate with Grade 12/Std 10Indian 23 906 99 270 1 24 176White 108 003 99 1 563 1 109 565Total 281 147 78 78 108 22 359 25African 47 487 87 6 908 13 54 395Coloured 6 523 100 0 0 6 523Degree/Degree and diplomaIndian 10 914 91 1 075 9 11 989White 48 105 97 1 710 3 49 815Total 113 028 92 9 693 8 122 722African 11 342 94 739 6 12 081Coloured 52 1 764 100 0 0 1 764Postgraduate degreeIndian 980 100 0 0 980White 38 869 100 0 0 38 869Total 52 955 99 739 1 53 694Source: Calculated from the September 2006 Labour Force Survey.This analysis shows that there are unemployed people available who may be trained for the sector. However, it can also be assumed thatmost of the people who do have qualifications in business, commerce and management don’t have training and experience specificallyrelevant to the insurance industry.3.3 The flow of skills onto the labour market3.3.1 Flow of skills from the schooling systemMost of the high-level financial skills in this sector require candidates with a sound mathematical foundation. Thus, the number of learnerswho matriculate with mathematics as a subject has a direct impact on the flow of learners into the higher education study programmesrelevant to this sector.In 2005, a total of 508 363 learners sat the Senior Certificate examination. Of the full-time candidates with six or more subjects, 68.3%passed the examination – 17.0% with matriculation exemption and 51.3% without exemption (Figure 3.4)51 The expanded definition of unemployment was used to determine the economically active population. This means that work seekers who had not actively looked foremployment shortly before the survey, but who were available for work (generally known as discouraged work seekers), were regarded as economically active. In the strictor official definition of unemployment, these workers would have been regarded as not economically active.52 The LFS provides the best and most recent labour market data. However, due to the size of the sample, large variances can occur if data are analysed at a very detailed level.This is the reason for the absence of coloureds with a postgraduate degree or diploma.INSETA Sector Skills Plan - page 24