New hiring trend hitting South Africa

South African jobs that require strong writing and art skills are in growing demand, while IT and Finance jobs have seen a reduction in hiring activity.

This is according to the CareerJunction Employment Insights Report, which provides an analysis of the supply and demand trends in the online job market.

The findings are supposed to serve as a foundation for potential HR solutions & strategies, enabling businesses to focus on relevant occupations when developing their talent attraction and retention.

The data looked at the hiring activity in Q4 2024 compared to Q3 2023.

The report said that hiring activity increased notably for Design, Media & Arts professionals, which saw growth of 22% over the quarter.

The following Design, Media & Arts jobs saw an increase in demand:

• Journalism / Writing / Editing
• Interior Design
• Other Design, Media & Arts

Looking elsewhere, Warehousing & Logistics increased by 9%, with jobs Route Management & Control seeing increased demand.

Despite the increase in some jobs, hiring activity in other sectors took a dip.

Hiring activity decreased for Finance professionals (-7%), for Sales professionals (-12%), and for IT professionals (-5%):

Information Technology -5%

• Systems / Network Administration
• Software Development
• Data Analysis / Data Warehousing
• Business Analysis

Finance -7%

• Purchasing & Procurement
• Cost & Management Accounting
• Financial / Project Accounting
• Accounts Payable / Receivable
• Credit Management
• Bookkeeping

Sales -12%

• Representative / Sales Consulting
• Retail
• Account Management

Due to their need for maths skills and higher levels of education, Finance and IT jobs are often seen as being in high demand.

CareerJunction’s report also showed the vacancy levels for jobs across South Africa.

Although Q4 2024 reflected similar recruitment activity levels to that seen in Q3 2024, year-on-year the number of vacancies dropped by 2.7%.

CareerJunction said that hiring activity has declined by 2.9%.

It added that slow hiring activity has been evident for most of 2024.

The data showed activity for Admin, Office and Support roles was slightly higher (+2%) than it was for the same roles a year ago.

Between Q3:2024 to Q4:2024 employment activity increased by +5%.

Recruitment activity for Business & Management professionals increased slightly year-on-year.

Between Q3:2024 to Q4:2024 employment activity increased by +4%.

Like the quarter-on-quarter decrease of 7%, hiring activity for Finance roles also decreased by declined by -7%.

The decline in hiring activity for IT professionals also continued year-on-year, seeing a massive 19% decrease in hiring activity over the period.

Due to their need for maths skills and higher levels of education, Finance and IT jobs are often seen as being in high demand, providing access to higher-paying jobs in the country compared to more arts-focused careers.

Nevertheless, despite the decrease, CareerJunction noted that demand for IT professionals remains very high in the recruitment market.

What other firms are saying

CareerJunction’s report follows similar findings from Pnet’s latest Job Market Trends Report for December.

Pnet said that slowing activity continued in November, with month-on-month local hiring activity down by 10% from October to November.

Year-on-year, hiring activity also dropped by -10%, compared to November 2023.

The trend for the two-year comparison also revealed that recruitment activity decreased by 10% compared to November 2022.

Pnet’s analysis also looked at some of the most in-demand jobs in the whole country, which included the following:

• Secretary – Admin, Office & Support
• Graphic / Print / Packaging Design – Design, Media & Arts
• Team Leader & Supervisor – Business & Management
• IT Project Administration / Management – Information Technology
• Mechanical Engineering – Architecture & Engineering

Pnet’s analysis thus shows some similar findings with CareerJunction, with both noting that jobs in the Design, Media & Arts and IT sectors are in high demand.

Pnet also noted that sector-specific activity trends can give valuable insights into the local job market and South African economy.

It said stable and increasing recruitment indicates confidence in the local economy and business growth.

Pnet said that the below sectors saw large increases in hiring activity:

Medical & Health

• Hiring activity for Medical & Health professionals has increased since Q1:2024.
• Month-on-month, recruitment activity for professionals in this sector increased by 16%.
• Year-on-year, hiring activity in this sector has increased by 18%

Architecture & Engineering

• From October to November 2024, Pnet said that there was a small uptake in hiring activity for Architecture & Engineering professionals. increasing by 3%
• Year-on-year, hiring activity in this sector has increased by 5%.