The purpose problem in South Africa: what happens when work disappears?

In a country already excluding millions of young people, AI-driven automation raises the stakes for social cohesion.

Article link: https://open.substack.com/pub/johanosteyn/p/the-purpose-problem-in-south-africa?r=73gqa&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Audio summary: https://youtu.be/YKijAr257XI

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South Africa is already struggling to offer millions of young people a credible first step into adult life: a job, an apprenticeship, a learnership, or even a reliable pathway to one. Now add a second pressure: rapid advances in AI and robotics that increasingly automate routine tasks, admin-heavy roles, and many of the “starter jobs” that used to train people on the job. The uncomfortable question is not only “how many jobs will change?”, but “what happens to dignity when work becomes scarce?” Because work is more than income. It is structure, identity, community, and a sense that you are needed. When those disappear, social cohesion and mental well-being don’t politely remain intact.

CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND

South Africa’s labour market remains one of the most challenging in the world, and the numbers are difficult to soften with rhetoric. Statistics South Africa’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey for Q3 2025 shows an official unemployment rate of 31.9%, with youth consistently the most exposed to joblessness.

The point is not to debate a single quarter’s movement. The point is that a large share of young people are already excluded from the economy’s “on-ramps” and from the social benefits that come with work. Reuters’ reporting on the Q3 2025 labour data underscored that even when the headline rate dips, the broader challenge remains a central socio-economic risk for the country.

At the same time, global leaders are increasingly warning that AI will hit entry-level roles first, precisely because those roles often involve repeatable, rules-based tasks. At Davos 2026, the Guardian reported the IMF’s warning that AI disruption could land hardest on young people, making it more difficult for them to break into the workforce.

INSIGHT AND ANALYSIS

The practical risk for South Africa is not a Hollywood “robots take all jobs” scenario. It is something more mundane and more damaging: a slow erosion of entry-level opportunities. When organisations adopt AI tools for support, analysis, customer interaction, and internal admin, they often reduce the volume of junior roles that used to act as training grounds. TechCentral recently highlighted this specific concern: first-time jobseekers may be hit hardest as entry-level tasks are automated or compressed into fewer positions. 

This is where the purpose problem becomes urgent. In a high-unemployment society, work is deeply tied to dignity. Not because people define themselves only by their job title, but because work provides routine, social connection, skills, confidence, and status. Without it, young people can find themselves stuck in a holding pattern: educated enough to feel expectations, but excluded enough to feel invisible.

And the emotional toll is not hypothetical. South African media have increasingly connected youth unemployment to anxiety, depression, and a sense of hopelessness that can ripple through families. An IOL feature late in 2025 captured how mental health organisations are seeing the stress and despair that prolonged joblessness creates for young people.

IMPLICATIONS

For policymakers, “jobs” cannot be the only metric. The focus must be on pathways: structured transitions from school into real work, whether through apprenticeships, learnerships, public-private placement programmes, or community-based service that builds skills and credibility. This is not about replacing the private sector; it is about preventing a lost generation from becoming normalised.

For business leaders, automation decisions are social decisions. If you adopt AI to reduce costs, you should also ask what happens to your entry-level pipeline. Are you creating fewer junior roles, or are you redesigning them so young employees learn higher-value skills sooner? The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report, as covered by ITWeb, has already sharpened the warning: automation can displace roles, but the outcome depends on how proactively organisations invest in skills and redeployment.

For parents and educators, we need to broaden what we prepare children for. Yes, they need employable skills, including AI literacy. But they also need resilience, agency, and a sense of contribution that is not solely tied to a payslip.

CLOSING TAKEAWAY

South Africa’s youth unemployment crisis already threatens social cohesion. If automation steadily hollows out entry-level work, the risk is not only economic exclusion but a dignity vacuum: millions of young people with time, frustration, and no credible ladder into adulthood. The response cannot be panic or denial. It must be deliberate design: pathways into contribution, skills that translate into real value, and a social narrative that treats dignity as non-negotiable. In a world where machines do more, our human job becomes building a society where people still feel needed.

Author Bio: Johan Steyn is a prominent AI thought leader, speaker, and author with a deep understanding of artificial intelligence’s impact on business and society. He is passionate about ethical AI development and its role in shaping a better future. Find out more about Johan’s work at https://www.aiforbusiness.net