Future of Jobs Summit: driving public-private action to tackle youth unemployment in SA

Spearheaded by the Future Leader Forum, the Future of Jobs Summit is a bold new initiative to help turn the tide on SA’s youth unemployment crisis.

Taking place on May 22 and 23 in Johannesburg, the summit will bring together influential public and private sector leaders from SA and abroad to co-create the jobs of the future — with a firm focus on youth employment, digital skills and scalable solutions.

Leading technology giant SAP, alongside major job creation enablers such as Adcorp, DP World, Workday and FNB, will unveil their bold strategies and pragmatic programmes for attracting, developing, and retaining top talent in an increasingly competitive global market.

SAP in particular will showcase its globally acclaimed Educate to Employ and Young Professionals Programmes, which have already equipped thousands of young Africans with in-demand digital skills and meaningful career pathways. These initiatives are helping to create an inclusive talent pipeline that fuels both local innovation and international competitiveness.

A national mandate to mobilise jobs for youth

Founder of the Future Leader Forum, Dr Nik Eberl, says the Future of Jobs Summit is not another policy talk shop — it is a high-impact platform for action and alignment.

Bringing together CEOs, ministers, labour leaders, skills providers, and community champions, the summit is structured around a singular mission: to create a sustainable and inclusive South African workforce.

“Youth unemployment is the greatest threat to our democracy — and the greatest opportunity to unlock national prosperity,” says Eberl. “This summit is about co-creating jobs of the future through partnerships that work — and delivering those solutions at scale.”

From dialogue to delivery: backed by the G20-T20 engagement track

The Future of Jobs Summit is an official T20 Site Event (T20 being the think-tank of SA’s G20 presidency) and will feed into the global G20-T20 agenda.

The official summit outcomes report — capturing the top job-creation strategies, public-private partnerships, and sectoral pledges — will be presented to:

• The office of the presidency;
• The parliament of SA; and
• The G20 Plenary in November 2025.

The summit is aligned with the G20’s global commitment to inclusive growth, skills development, and job creation for the youth, making SA a leading voice in shaping a more resilient future of work.

Success models already emerging: GBS and beyond

SA’s Global Business Services (GBS) sector is a standout success story that will be reviewed at the summit. With strong government support, global investment, and a young, trainable workforce, the GBS industry has already created over 150,000 youth jobs and is on track to deliver 500,000 jobs by 2030.

“GBS shows us what’s possible when government, business, and skills providers align around a shared goal,” says Eberl. “We must now apply that same formula across high-growth sectors — from tech and tourism to renewable energy and the care economy.”

Call to action for leaders and changemakers

The summit will feature:

• The CEO dialogue, leadership roundtables and panel discussions.
• Job creation success stories from the private sector as well as national, provincial and local government.
• A National Jobs Dashboard launch to track commitments and progress.

“We are building a movement of hope,” says Eberl. “The Future of Jobs Summit is about giving our youth a future worth staying for — and showing the world that SA is ready to lead. We are thrilled to have representation from the public, private and nonprofit sector, including social entrepreneurs participating.”

This article was sponsored by the Future Leader Forum.