Career Flexibility: A Panacea to Skills Obsolescence

Abstract

A survey was carried out in Harare on young people who have completed college or University. The main objective was to analyse the employment status of youth in relation to the skills they have. Results indicated that the majority of the respondents are not formally employed, or those employed are not employed in the jobs they trained for. As a result, there is a high level of skills mismatch leading to skills obsolescence. Many graduates are unemployed or have resorted to self- employment or some type of entrepreneurship. The results also indicate that most of the research participants are engaged in hybrid jobs, mainly technical jobs so as to reduce the impact of skills obsolescence and at the same time earn some money to make a living. The study recommends that young people be encouraged to train in multi disciplines whilst in University or College so as to have career flexibility and competitive advantage when they graduate.