My Skills, My Career Superpowers : How Skillcraft Helps Jobseekers to Self-assess, Identify and Develop Skills for Jobs in South Africa

South African employers are increasingly seeking workers with 21st century skills, which can be defined as executive function and socioemotional skills as the workplace shifts toward the service sector, non-routine work processes, and technological adoption. The grave employment challenges inspired the creation of the South African Presidential Youth Employment Intervention (PYEI), introduced in 2020, to coordinate the efforts of the government, private sector, and NGOs working in the youth employment space. In response to government demand, the World Bank in partnership with two of South Africa’s leading youth employment programs Youth Employment Service (YES) and Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, and with financial support from the Swiss Development Cooperation (SECO), developed SkillCraft. SkillCraft is a task-based, digital, 21st century skills assessment and career guidance tool freely available to jobseekers through a computer, tablet, or mobile device. SkillCraft is currently undergoing adaptations and rollout. It is available on a trial basis on the national youth website, SAYouth.mobi, which reaches close to over 3 million South African youth. Once piloted with adaptations made as needed, SkillCraft would also be tested in other World Bank client countries. Further research is underway to understand SkillCraft’s longer-term impact on labor market outcomes of unemployed South African youth.