---
title: "#OFMBusinessHour: Graduates only constitute 8% of unemployment rate"
description: CEO of YES cautions that university graduates only constitute a mere 8% of the overall unemployment rate in South Africa.
---

[Press ](https://blog.yes4youth.co.za/press)

# [#OFMBusinessHour: Graduates only constitute 8% of unemployment rate](https://blog.yes4youth.co.za/press/ofmbusinesshour-graduates-only-constitute-8-of-unemployment-rate)

 Written by [Admin](https://blog.yes4youth.co.za/press/author/admin) | Apr 22, 2021 9:57:13 AM

### Dr. Tashmia Ismail, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Youth Employment Service (YES), cautions that university graduates only constitute a mere 8% of the overall unemployment rate in South Africa.

In her interview with the Business Hour on the 2020/21 fourth quarter labour figures, Ismail says South Africans without a matric certificate or those with only a matric are, in fact, the most unemployed in the country – roughly 56% – and it is them that we need to focus on. YES is a joint national initiative between business, government and labour that aims to address the youth unemployment crisis in South Africa by providing 12-month quality work experiences to unemployed youth. Ismail encourages business owners to not just automatically hire university graduates, but rather take a risk, on that which is unexpected.

 

[http://yes4youth.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/the_ofm_business_hour_21_apr_graduates_only_cstitute_8_of_unemployment_rate_yes_medium.mp3](https://yes4youth.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/the_ofm_business_hour_21_apr_graduates_only_cstitute_8_of_unemployment_rate_yes_medium.mp3)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[View full post](https://blog.yes4youth.co.za/press/ofmbusinesshour-graduates-only-constitute-8-of-unemployment-rate)

```json
{
  "@context" : "http://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "Admin"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2024-10-21T09:44:26.582Z",
  "datePublished" : "2021-04-22T09:57:13Z",
  "headline" : "#OFMBusinessHour: Graduates only constitute 8% of unemployment rate",
  "image" : {
    "@type" : "ImageObject",
    "height" : 300,
    "url" : "https://8585911.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/8585911/Imported_Blog_Media/fr_2021421203523-1.jpg",
    "width" : 600
  },
  "mainEntityOfPage" : "https://blog.yes4youth.co.za/press/ofmbusinesshour-graduates-only-constitute-8-of-unemployment-rate",
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "height" : 60,
      "url" : "/hs/hsstatic/content_shared_assets/static-1.4092/img/default-amp-logo.png",
      "width" : 60
    },
    "name" : "Press"
  }
}
```