Addressing a Youth Day gathering in Soweto, Shilowa said young graduates in Gauteng would form 8% of the workforce of the province's government by 2006.
"Where will our kids get experience if they are not given a chance?" he asked a packed Orlando Stadium.
The crowd, which included MECs and municipal councillors, were commemorating June 16, 1976, the day the schoolchildren's uprising against apartheid began.
"We will give a chance to young people who have degrees but no experience," Shilowa said, adding that the government understood the need for employment.
He said 4% of the people currently working for the provincial government represented the youth, and he intended to double the figure.
Gauteng would produce matriculants in mathematics, science and technology. All schools would have internet connections by 2006, the premier said.
Thousands of other people watched proceedings from a big screen outside the stadium. Artists like Pitch Black Afro and Mzekezeke entertained the crowd.
Earlier yesterday, more than 300 people laid wreaths at the Hector Peterson memorial as part of Youth Day celebrations.
Peterson, then aged 13, was shot dead by police in the 1976 uprising. He was the first victim of that event.
Leading the solemn proceedings at the site where Peterson was killed, Johannesburg council speaker Nandi Mayathula-Khoza said the occasion was to salute thousands of young people who gave their lives for the cause of freedom.
"We honour these young revolutionaries, the torch bearers of our revolution," she said.
"We also celebrate achievements made by young people and highlight challenges like HIV/Aids, unemployment and poverty."
As the proceedings were underway, a busload of youngsters chanting liberation songs and clad in African National Congress T-shirts drove past the memorial site to the nearby Orlando stadium.
Family members of the those who died during the uprising were also present at the memorial site.
After the ceremony, delegates proceeded to Orlando Stadium, where various activities involving were taking place to entertain the youth.
These included a performance by a group of young drum majorettes, aerobics and a sport tournament. – Sapa.
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