South Africa continued to lose jobs in Q1 2021 despite four consecutive quarters of real GDP growth, showing that the correlation between growth and jobs in South Africa might not be what it once was, says professional services firm PwC.<\/p>\n
By applying simple regression modelling using the latest rebased GDP and employment data, the firm found that since Q4 2019, there has been a diminishing relationship between real GDP growth and job creation in the country.<\/p>\n
“By the end of 2019, every one percentage point increase in real GDP would translate to a 1.01 percentage point increase in employment<\/strong>. In addition, real GDP change during a specific quarter would explain 74% of the change,” it said.<\/p>\n “When extending the regression period to Q2 2021, we observe that a one percentage point increase in real GDP now only translates to a 0.91 percentage point change in job creation<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n The calculation also has a reduced model fit of 0.67 \u2013 this means that, at present, the change in real GDP can only explain two-thirds of the change in jobs, PwC said.<\/p>\n While this relationship is clearly diminishing, applying the updated model would still suggest that South Africa should add 410,000 jobs this year if the economy grows by our projected 3%, the firm said.<\/p>\n “However, following the jobless recovery in H1 2021, and the adverse impact of July\u2019s unrest on third-quarter job prospects, it makes us wonder whether any formal jobs will be created in 2021.<\/p>\n “The big question is: why aren’t we seeing a jobless recovery?”<\/p>\n Four key problem areas\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The answers might lie in the other third of the drivers behind employment growth that the GDP-only regression model could not explain, PwC said.<\/p>\n The private sector, the global driver of post-pandemic employment recovery, is facing a myriad of local uncertainties that is keeping it from retaining and appointing new workers, it said.\u00a0 These include, amongst others:<\/p>\n These four factors all highlight the detrimental effect of uncertainty \u2013 specifically over taxes, lockdown restrictions, social stability and electricity security \u2013 on business sentiment, PwC said.<\/p>\n There is a clear relationship between policy uncertainty and business confidence in South Africa, where higher uncertainty leads to weaker business sentiment, the firm said.<\/p>\n “In addition to these challenges, there is the obvious impact of Covid-19 on how business operate on a day-to-day basis. For example, companies in South Africa have had to invest in software as a service (SaaS) to ensure business continuity for staff to work from home.<\/p>\n “This has opened the door to new opportunities to digitalise certain business functions \u2013 perhaps to the detriment of current and would-be employees – as companies look to control costs and remain competitive.”<\/p>\n The next big question is whether this kind of jobless growth trend will endure, PwC said.<\/p>\n “There are no easy answers. However, in order to avoid a continuation of jobless growth, South Africa needs to address the key uncertainties highlighted here.<\/p>\n “These factors have been around for a varying number of years and associated risks are unlikely to be resolved within the next 12 months. A concerted effort is therefore needed to avoid a jobless growth trend from sticking.”<\/p>\n\n
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