Supply chain industry body SAPICS has reinforced its commitment to developing South African youth. This is Part 1 of a two-part series.
SAPICS has rolled out new initiatives and partnerships aimed at upskilling and empowering young graduates and professionals for career success, addressing the skills gap in the supply chain field and fighting the country’s high youth unemployment rate.
According to Stats SA, youth aged 15 to 24 and 25 to 34 have the highest unemployment rates in the country at 60,8% and 41,7% respectively. In today’s volatile and chaotic business environment, where change is the only certainty, supply chain management is an increasingly important profession. It ensures that goods and services are available when and where they are needed. SAPICS stresses that it is imperative to build a pipeline of talent in this critical field, but notes that many graduates lack the skills, resources and experience to capitalise on opportunities in the profession.
To address this, SAPICS launched a drive to engage with key stakeholders to explore strategies and collaborations that will ensure the competency of supply chain management students. “One of our objectives, as an industry body, is to create a pathway and provide support to ensure that academia and the supply chain requirements of the private and public sectors are aligned, for mutual benefit and advancement,” explains SAPICS president MJ Schoemaker.
The outcomes of these discussions have included the establishment of supply chain chapters or desks at selected universities by SAPICS.
“SAPICS will offer support and resources, arrange events, and provide opportunities for dialogue, personal and professional development,” Schoemaker expands. SAPICS will also facilitate industry’s involvement in research at universities. SAPICS will be a conduit for all industry sectors to connect and obtain information. SAPICS corporate members have come to the party, too, and through SAPICS, will advise educational institutions of project work and vacation work opportunities for students. “SAPICS will create a database with these opportunities, and universities and students will have access to this information,” Schoemaker states.
Soft skills have been identified as an area where supply chain graduates are lacking. The first initiative to address this is a partnership between SAPICS and Unisa. Together, they have launched a series of lunchtime online Mini-Master Classes. The inaugural class, held in August and led by Dr Alicia Weber, a senior lecturer at Unisa, focused on the importance of core values and personal branding. She was joined by Nikita Reddy, school manager at Mancosa, who examined strategic personal branding.
Source: SAPICS