Where Will the Jobs Come From? A Demand-Side Perspective on Youth Employment

Justin Visagie & Siphelele Ngidi (SCIS, Wits) provide a demand-side perspective that reframes the debate away from young people’s skills toward the economy’s weak capacity to generate jobs. The authors argue that low growth and insufficient labour demand, not skills deficits alone, leave young people “stuck at the start”, driving underemployment and skills inflation, and they weigh the policy choices for absorbing the growing supply of school-leavers and graduates. Presented at the 2026 Public Economics Conference.