Graduate unemployment has emerged as a major socio-economic problem in many countries, and South Africa is no exception. In South Africa, which is a developing country, graduate unemployment is the cause of concern as it grows consistently with the overall youth unemployment. The transition of youth from higher education to the world of work is a challenge. Thus, work readiness programmes, such as internships, are increasingly supported to facilitate the smooth transition of graduates to the labour market. Drawing from the lens of work readiness perspective, this paper explores the role of internship on youth graduate employability. This exploratory qualitative research employed a total of fifty semi-structured interviews with youth graduate interns, mentors, and HR personnel to elicit data. The findings indicate that while the internship slightly contributes to career and professional development of youth graduates, its role in the transition of youth graduates to full-time permanent employment is unclear. It was found that the internship programme mostly provides soft skills and inadequate irrelevant work experience, which does not meet the employability needs of graduates. This paper therefore recommends further research to inform proper rules, policies, and systems necessary to improve the role of internship on youth graduate employability. © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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