Big hiring drive expected in South Africa in the coming months

South African organisations are expected to see significant growth in hiring sentiment this quarter, according to the latest ManpowerGroup employment outlook survey.

The survey shows organisations are planning for a significantly healthy staffing climate in the coming quarter, with plans for a +32 percentage point net employment outlook reported by hiring managers. This is a 40% increase compared to the same period last year.

“These results reflect the rise in business confidence following from the easing of lockdown restrictions that allowed for industries such as retail and hospitality to reopen on the back of the removal of the Covid-19 global travel ban,” said Lyndy van den Barselaar, managing director at ManpowerGroup SA.

“While the pandemic is not behind us yet, it is positive to see how organisations are adapting and preparing for business as usual by increasing staff count, particularly within certain sectors.”

Sector comparison

South African organisations anticipate hiring growth across nine of the 11 sectors in the quarter from April to June 2022 compared to the first quarter of the year.

At the same time, employers expect the net employment outlook to remain constant for one of 11 sectors compared to the last quarter but growth in all sectors compared to the second quarter of 2021.

The sector expected to see the highest hiring growth is primary production, which includes: agriculture, forestry and fishing; mining and quarrying; electricity, gas and air conditioning supply; water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities. This sector is expected to grow by 47% and is followed by banking, finance, insurance, and real estate which expects to see an increase of 40% in hiring sentiment.

The manufacturing sector expects to see the lowest hiring growth with employers reporting a net outlook of 27. In this sector, job hunters can expect the net employment outlook to grow by eight percentage points compared with the first quarter of 2022 and by 36 points compared to the second quarter of 2021.

Regional comparison

Hiring climate improvements are expected by hiring decision-makers for all South African regions during Q2 2022.

South African job hunters can plan for the net employment outlook to improve for 4 of 5 regions compared with the last quarter.

The region expecting the best-performing hiring pace with a net employment outlook of 39 is the Free State region, a 52-point growth when compared to the same period last year. This is followed by the Western Cape which, with a net employment outlook of 34, is an increase of 8-points compared to last quarter.

Hiring managers in the Eastern Cape report the lowest-performing growth with a net employment outlook of 26. However, the job market is expected to improve by five percentage points in this region when compared to Q1 2022 and by 35 points compared to the same period last year.

Read: South Africans should expect higher interest rates this week