From Unemployment to Opportunity: MedTech Must Act Now

South Africa’s youth unemployment crisis remains urgent. Recent data from Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) Q4:2025 indicates that the unemployment rate for ages 15- 34 years is 43.8%.

Aligned with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, SAMED is convening a focused industry session aimed at demystifying learnerships and their role in building sustainable talent pipelines. The intent of this session is to provide clarity and practical guidance on how learnerships can be effectively implemented.

Programme:

10:00 – 10:10

Welcome and Opening:

Moderator: Shelize Theunissen, Vice-Chair, SAMED Diversity and Inclusion Committee

10:10 – 10:55

Case Study: Learnerships and Skills Development in the MedTech Sector

• Kirsten Redman-Vira, Operations Director and Lead Facilitator, Diverse Conversations

10:55 – 11:30

Presentation: How Harambee works with industry to address youth unemployment

• Nandipha Isaacs, Head of Opportunity Development, Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator

What members will gain:

• Practical insights into aligning learnerships with their talent development programmes, ensuring that qualifications are meaningfully matched to organisational talent needs.
• Case studies from within the medical technology sector
• Strategies for transitioning youth from learnerships and internships into permanent roles
• Awareness of tools and platforms available to support industry collaboration

Who should attend:

• Executive Leadership
• HR, Talent and Learning and Development Managers
• Transformation Managers
• Unemployed Youth
• Operations and Technical Managers

We encourage SAMED members to attend and contribute to this important discussion as we collectively work towards building a sustainable and inclusive talent pipeline for the sector.

Register: Here