South Africans not offered salaries they deserve
Many South Africans may not be earning the salaries they deserve, particularly in smaller companies that often lack access to reliable market benchmarks.
Salary benchmarking has historically been designed for large corporates and was often too expensive for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) to access.
As a result, smaller firms sometimes make salary offers based more on internal budgets rather than what the broader market is paying.
This is the feedback from Job Crystal CEO Sasha Knott, who said this can lead to situations where job offers miss the mark.
Knott explained in a recent interview that some companies get their job offer salary wrong because they lack the same resources or internal structures as larger companies.
However, she said technological advances are helping to level the playing field. “With the advent of AI, SMEs now have the ability to get benchmark data at a fraction of the cost,” she said.
Even when smaller companies cannot match corporate salaries, Knott said they can still offer other advantages that appeal to job seekers.
She explained that smaller companies often provide broader learning opportunities and more varied work experience.
“You’ll learn more in a smaller firm than in a bigger one. The pie for SMEs is smaller, but you get to do more parts of it,” she said.
According to Knott, employees in smaller firms are often exposed to a wider range of responsibilities because teams are smaller and less structured.
“You definitely get much more experience in an SME,” she said, adding that businesses should highlight this when recruiting.
She also pointed to additional benefits smaller firms can offer, including flexibility and fewer bureaucratic processes.
“They’re not as structured with the red tape, which is definitely a plus for many people, as well as flexibility and remote working, which corporates aren’t always able to offer.”
Consequences of paying below-market salaries
Knott said salary decisions in small companies are often made by a single owner or founder rather than a large HR team. “Usually we find it’s one person doing most of it until about 50 employees,” she said.
This is why accessible benchmarking tools are increasingly important. Knott noted that employers can now analyse salaries based on job descriptions rather than just titles.
“You can enter a job description rather than just working on a job title, which will tell you what that pays and what’s being paid in the market,” she said.
The data can also reveal broader trends in pay disparities. Knott said Job Crystal’s analysis shows regional differences in pay levels.
According to Knott, salaries are typically highest in Johannesburg, followed by Cape Town and KwaZulu-Natal, with other provinces generally offering lower pay.
“There’s always been an argument between Joburg and Cape Town,” she said. “Johannesburg pays about 10% more on average than Cape Town.”
Knott warned that paying below-market salaries can have serious consequences for businesses. Employees who realise they are underpaid are more likely to begin looking for other opportunities.
“If you find out that you could get paid more for the same job, you generally start looking around,” she said.
She added that offering the wrong salary can create two major challenges for employers, which are slower recruitment and higher staff turnover.
“You take longer to recruit because you’re not paying market value,” Knott said. “And when you’re not paying the right salaries, your staff turnover is higher.”
This means businesses may end up spending more on recruitment and training in the long run, she said, even if they initially tried to save money by offering lower salaries.
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