Side hustle becomes the hustle

Ambitious: Young people are underemployed but work, says new report on Gen Z

- Ina Opperman

South Africa's unemployment figures are again under the spotlight as a report of a survey of young people indicates that our youth are not unemployed; they're underemployed but operating outside the bounds of the formal sector.

But many are far from inactive and they are hustling as creators, freelancers, micro-entrepreneurs, influencers, digital editors, crypto traders, tutors and resellers to survive in a harsh economic climate.

According to the latest results of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey conducted by Statistics SA, the official unemployment rate for the first quarter was 32.9%.

For the youth, defined as people between the ages of 15 and 34, the total number of unemployed increased by 151,000 to 4.8 million, while employed youth recorded a decrease of 153,000 to 5.7 million.

As a result, the youth unemployment rate increased from 44.6% in the fourth quarter of 2024 to 46.1% in the first quarter of 2025.

These figures have caused an outcry yet again, with many organisations expressing their dismay at this high rate of unemployment.