Youth Month draws attention to one of South Africa’s most urgent challenges: how to turn potential into real, sustained employment. For business, this is not a seasonal conversation. It requires deliberate, long-term investment in creating meaningful career pathways for young people supported by practical experience and ongoing development.
According to Statistics South Africa’s QLFS Q4: 2025 report, youth unemployment stands at 43.8%, underscoring how many young people are still waiting for a first real opportunity. While there have been incremental shifts, the outlook for many remains uncertain.
For the logistics industry, this presents both a constraint and a responsibility. Skills shortages affect performance, but they also reflect a disconnect between available talent and access to opportunity. Bridging that gap requires intentional, structured development.
Shamona Chinnappa, National Training and Compliance Manager at Bidvest International Logistics (BIL), explains: “We take a targeted approach to selection, working closely with the business to ensure that training aligns with real demand. It’s about giving people the right opportunity, at the right time, with the right support to succeed.”
This reflects a shift from training for compliance to training for capability, where learning is directly linked to real roles and progression. For JD Van Der Merwe, BIL’s Head of Talent, the approach is straightforward: “Our guiding principle is growing our company by growing our people. When individuals commit to their own development and are supported along the way, progress follows.”
Developing capability depends on structured learning environments where theory is reinforced through practical, cross-functional exposure that builds both technical skill and operational understanding. However, development only delivers results when it is supported by clear progression pathways, mentorship, and ongoing assessment. Without these, organisations risk repeating entry-level training without building deeper expertise.
Structured learning, offered by the BIL Academy and aligned to Learnership frameworks such as NQF Levels 3, 4, and 5, plays an important role in ensuring consistency and recognition. Yet qualifications alone are not enough without experienced practitioners to ensure relevance in delivery. Cross-functional exposure further strengthens capability by enabling internal mobility and improving workforce adaptability.
Over time, this reduces reliance on external hiring and strengthens succession planning. Initiatives such as the BIL Academy and the YES programme expand access to entry-level roles at scale, but their effectiveness depends on integration into structured development pipelines.
For many young people, joining an established organisation such as BIL also builds confidence and a sense of belonging, both of which are critical to long-term employability.
By JD Van Der Merwe, Head of Talent, and Shamona Chinnappa, National Training & Compliance Manager; Bidvest International Logistics
