Trailer: Good or bad

The Future of Work podcast does not ask whether digital work is “good or bad.”
 Instead, it asks, who gets access, and who doesn’t? What does digital work feel like on the ground. How are youth shaping the future before policy catches up?
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Through regional, character-driven stories, the series contributes to a more honest, human understanding of work, dignity, and possibility in South Africa.

Enjoy our raw trailer, recorded from different regions across the country!

Stay tune for your first episode, it'll be a good one! 

Follow us on Instagram @fow_podcast

Thank you for listening! 

Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:00

How can digital work support community development? I'd say through information sharing?

SPEAKER_03 0:06

In my personal opinion, it can't really support community development, though it creates some form of awareness. Those that are in the community can just educate themselves accordingly to digital works or digital platforms, but still create some form of individualism that is just to chase some form of income. So to really say that it can develop a community is a far-fetched idea.

SPEAKER_06 0:42

I think that to begin with, um community development can be supported through what people are doing in the most, you know, basic and rudimentary level. It would be the starting of communities, community groups. I think that does assist in the development of communities because that's where ideas come to life. Beyond it being just a space for people to escape, it's also becoming a space for people to bring ideas together, to ideate together around the improvement of their communities, around how to make things better within their communities. Because once you start using digital uh platforms for uh engagement, you then enable a constant dialogue. And that's really important because without the dialogue, nobody knows what's needed within the community for improvement, and everybody is stuck in their own phones on YouTube. That's not about the world that they live in.

SPEAKER_07 1:59

The future of work it took on the future of work. The future of work. The future of work.

SPEAKER_05 2:15

To be very honest, I don't know what digital work. Um, I think it could just mean work that is primarily primarily based on um our new uh landscape, which is this world of the digital, social media, the internet, web-based work, um work that requires you to be connected um to something beyond just real life. So it's not an IRL, it's a URL experience. Uh that's what I see as digital work.

SPEAKER_06 2:51

Same with message, for me, not only because I'm from the province, but also because I am blind, it means a variety of things. Digital work. Um within the province, it's still a bit of a challenge because in as much as there is a rise of you know digital work and the digital world and digital connectivity of the world, um there's still the challenge that um the marginalized are still marginalized. We still haven't found a way to be inclusive of, you know, the rurals to our in a larger rural province, we still haven't found a way. So you'll find that sometimes things are available online, cheaper than they would be if you were to go to them physically. And that's a challenge because then that limits access for the people in the rural areas who do not have access to Wi-Fi data, uh, not only because they're in the rurals, also just in our township areas where there are the poor and the marginalized still, it's not easy to access data. You need to decide between bread and data. And most of the time, bread will win. Uh, and then in my disability, I would say digital work is everything. You know, I'm able to be connected with the world. I'm able to connect with my work and connect people with my work because of the digital, you know, work, because of technological improvements. So it's it's a lot, you know, what with software that enables me to be on the computer and run my work, do applications online, you know, submit work online rather than having to sign things physically. So it's a lot that um digitization of everything is is is doing in my favor as a blind person. But as I say, I cannot look past the fact that um South Africa is still uh largely impoverished, and uh it's a few who benefit from the digitization of all things.

SPEAKER_08 5:10

In the South African context, digital work refers to income generating activities that rely on digital tools, platforms or the internet. This includes freelance and remote work, for example, design, writing, admin, and tech support, platform-based work, for example, ride inhaling delivery and content creation, online entrepreneurship like selling goods or services via social media or e-commerce, creative digital labor, for example, music distribution, podcasts, videos, and social media influencing. Lastly, informal digital hassles like WhatsApp businesses, Facebook Marketplace, and online reselling. For many young people, digital work is not a replacement for formal employment, but a way to survive alongside unemployment, underemployment, and informal labor.

SPEAKER_02 6:15

South Africa has one of the highest youth unemployment rates in the world, with young people facing issues like limited access to formal jobs, slow economic growth, and skills mismatches between education and the labor markets. Digital work is often framed as a solution, a way for youth to bypass geographic limits, access global markets, and also create income independently. However, this promise is unevenly realized.

SPEAKER_03 6:40

The youth in our area community use social media as a form of creating relevance by doing certain trends or commenting on social issues that would attract a big following so that brands, businesses can be able to see them as valid influences and then pay them accordingly for either having to promote whatever brand, product, service that might be out there. Though the issue at hand, if there are problems with connectivity, will harm this business method based on the fact that it requires a frequency of having to interact with your followers. And so it limits how much somebody can make over a set period of time. Though it is not the only way they could make money using digital works or digital platforms, but it requires a level of education towards doing that and is not as uh popularized amongst the community to try something else.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

While digital work is growing, access is not equal. Key barriers include South Africa's high mobile data prices that limit consistent participation. Rural and township areas experience lower, unreliable internet. Many youth rely on shared or outdated phones rather than laptops. Digital literacy is often self-taught, fragmented, and unsupported. Most digital work opportunities privilege English, excluding many youth. As a result, digital work often benefits those who already have relative privilege, reinforcing inequality rather than reducing it. Digital work is not experienced the same way across the country. Take urban centers, La Chauteng. There's a little bit more access, visibility, and opportunity, but also intense competition, household culture, and burnout. Semi-urban and rural areas like KZN and the Eastern Cape, there's a strong interest and creativity, but fewer pathways, weaker infrastructure, and limited institutional support. These differences shape how young people imagine the future, whether digital work feels like a possibility, pressure or exclusion. There's also the rise of AI and tech.

SPEAKER_07 9:16

Global conversations about artificial intelligence, automation, and the future of work often do not reflect African realities. They assume a stable internet, formal digital jobs, and strong safety nets.

SPEAKER_00 9:29

For many South African youth, the future of work is already here. Informal, precarious, and self-managed, but largely invisible in dominant tech narratives.

SPEAKER_04 9:40

Young people are already adapting, learning skills online, creating work where none exists, supporting families through digital income streams. Yet their experiences are already documented in their own voices. Storytelling becomes a form of agency, knowledge sharing, narrative correction. By centering youth voices, this project challenges narrow ideas of innovation and reframes digital work as something lived local and complex, not just technological.

SPEAKER_08 10:16

The Future of Work podcast does not ask whether digital work is good or bad. Instead, it asks who gets access and who doesn't? What does digital work feel like on the ground? How are young people shaping the future before policy catches up? Through regional, character-driven stories, the series contributes to a more honest, human understanding of work, dignity, and possibility in South Africa.

SPEAKER_01 10:45

I do see digital work as a way out. A simple example will be using our smartphones. People use smartphones to make calls, and people like us use smartphones to create content and embrace the digital world, which would be TikTok, YouTube. Specifically for me, I have chosen YouTube. I have been motivated by those ahead of me, which got me wanting to tell my story digitally, as it is the only thing that I know.