Hospitality is well placed to help solve SA’s high youth unemployment problem.
That’s the message from Sandra Kneubuhler, MD for Sub-Saharan Africa at Radisson Hotel Group, who advocates for young people to get into the industry, arguing that its low barrier to entry, career progression, and global prospects make it an appealing career path.
By now, SA’s unemployment woes are well documented.
According to the third Quarterly Labour Force Survey for 2025, which was released in mid-November, the country’s youth unemployment remains among the highest in the world, though it saw a slight improvement towards the end of the year.
By September, the unemployment rate stood at 58.5%, down from 62.2% in the second quarter for those aged 15-24, while the rate for those between 25 and 34 was 38.4%.
Kneubuhler highlights that hospitality is one of the few careers where extensive academic qualifications are not required to succeed. “You can join hospitality at an entry-level role, and within five to seven years, you can take on a management role.”
Tourism, the main source of business for the hospitality sector, currently contributes over 8% to SA’s GDP and supports about 1.8-million jobs.
You can join hospitality at an entry-level role, and within five to seven years, you can take on a management role
— Sandra Kneubuhler, Radisson Hotel Group
The hotel executive says the industry offers a “passport to the world,” allowing young people to travel rather than staying in one location.
“Most young people don’t want to spend the rest of their lives sitting in one location ... the fact that we can open their door, we can be their passport to the world, I think, is where the appeal can really come into place,” she says.
Digital platforms transform hospitality training
While qualifications are not a prerequisite, the sector does offer opportunities to learn on the job.
For instance, Radisson Hotel Group utilises digital platforms to train staff with little prior experience, focusing on digital competency alongside operational skills like culinary, food and beverage, as well as customer service.
The Radisson Hotel Group runs mentorship programmes, internal academies, and in-person training to bridge the gap between theory and reality for graduates coming into hotel schools.
“I see us as a digital enabler. We can take people who have very little digital experience and train them through online systems to become far more digitally aware and digitally competent,” Kneubuhler says.
“What we’re really trying to do is bridge this gap between theory and reality. It’s not unusual. People often come out of university and go, ‘This is what university taught me,’ and the real world goes, ‘Hey! It’s not like that!’”
We can take people who have very little digital experience and train them through online systems to become far more digitally aware and digitally competent
— Sandra Kneubuhler, Radisson Hotel Group
Radisson Hotel Group collaborates with the “Future Leaders Challenge”, a competition involving various universities and competitors to solve real-world industry problems. Winners are often sent to Dubai or other regions for further exposure.
But the skills developed in this way are both a blessing and a curse for the local industry.
On the one hand, skills development and training programmes mean the Radisson Hotel Group and its fellow hotel operators can grow the talent base, which feeds into the quality of service for their operations.
However, such talent ends up attracting job offers from abroad.
SA talent in ‘high demand’ abroad
Kneubuhler says there is a high demand for South African hospitality workers in the Middle East and internationally, driven by their reputation for having a friendly attitude and strong work ethic. “I think South Africans are some of the nicest, friendliest people on Earth. I think they lend themselves to hospitality automatically.”
“Some of SA’s best talent goes abroad. People are enticed by the US dollar-based salaries that are available in the Middle East. If we have a fight for talent, that’s where it is.”
As such, Radisson Hotel Group needs to have strategies in place for talent retention.
Kneubuhler admits that while they lose talent to international markets, they view their role as growing talent for the wider industry, their philosophy being: “We grow talent, talent grows us”.
In the South African context, Radisson Hotel Group prioritises hiring for attitude and personality, with the hotel leader noting that technical skills can be taught, but that a service-oriented mindset is inherent.
Beyond hospitality, the skills learnt and taught in the sector have value elsewhere.
Kneubuhler describes hospitality managers as “fire marshals” because they are constantly putting out fires and solving immediate problems. This teaches critical thinking and instant problem-solving skills that are transferable to any industry.
The core skill learnt is “deep customer service”, which is valuable in any sector, she says.
Young job seekers should ‘play the long game’
Looking ahead, Kneubuhler advises young people to adopt a long-term mindset rather than seeking instant gratification. She notes that career paths are no longer linear but require patience, creativity, and a willingness to learn on the job.
Her advice to the country’s young job seekers is to “play the long game”.
“I think that’s what’s often missing. There’s this sort of desire for instant growth, instant gratification. Go in with a long-term plan ... be prepared to change it ... but have the long-term mindset.”
Finally, “Be creative and try new things. Growth isn’t always about the next salary increase. Growth is about growing you,” Kneubuhler says.
Tune in to the Business Day Spotlight podcast hosted by Mudiwa Kabaza, to explore how SA’s hospitality sector can open doors for young job seekers.
This article was sponsored by Radisson Hotel Group.
