{"id":780687,"date":"2024-07-04T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-04T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=780687"},"modified":"2024-07-04T07:02:35","modified_gmt":"2024-07-04T05:02:35","slug":"hiring-activity-is-down-in-south-africa-but-these-jobs-are-still-in-demand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/780687\/hiring-activity-is-down-in-south-africa-but-these-jobs-are-still-in-demand\/","title":{"rendered":"Hiring activity is down in South Africa &#8211; but these jobs are still in demand"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Hiring activity remains suppressed in South Africa when it should be picking up, but some opportunities are still available. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In its latest Job Market Trends Report, Pnet said that hiring activity usually starts following April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, May 2024 showed a slight decrease in hiring activity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;This may be partly as a result of political instability and concerns leading up to and following the 2024 South Africa elections,&#8221; said Pnet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Year-on-year, hiring activity decreased by 10% compared to May 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The two-year comparison shows that recruitment activity decreased by 5% compared to May 2022. <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image-18.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"988\" height=\"313\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image-18.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-780693\" srcset=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image-18.png 988w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image-18-300x95.png 300w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image-18-768x243.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 988px) 100vw, 988px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><br>Source: Pnet<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>That said, some jobs are still showing increased demand for workers and professionals, with accounting skills remaining the most sought-after.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Trending jobs include: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Cost &amp; Management Accounting<\/strong> &#8211; Finance<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Nursing \/ Professional Care Giving <\/strong>&#8211; Medical &amp; Health<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Financial \/ Project Accounting<\/strong> &#8211; Finance<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Accounts Payable \/ Receivable<\/strong> &#8211; Finance<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Business Development<\/strong> &#8211; Business and Management<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Sector-specific hiring activity trends can also provide insights into the local job market and South African economy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stable and increasing recruitment activity shows confidence in the local economy and business growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Only one sector across the country shows year-on-year growth, considering the slowed hiring activity in the year so far: Agriculture and Engineering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although there has been lower and more volatile hiring activity in the sector in 2024, it still increased by 6% year-on-year. <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image-17.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image-17.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-780689\" srcset=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image-17.png 600w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image-17-300x176.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Source: Pnet<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Poor job market <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The decreased hiring activity indicates an economy that is struggling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Stats SA\u2019s latest liquidation data, 125 businesses closed in May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of these 125 closures, 114 were voluntary, while 11 were compulsory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This takes the total number of liquidations for the first five months of 2024 to 638.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Closing these businesses will not help South Africa&#8217;s high unemployment numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stats SA&#8217;s latest Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) showed that total employment fell by 67,000 or -0.6% quarter-on-quarter, from 10,731,000 in December 2023 to 10,664,000 in March 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This was primarily due to decreases in the following industries:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Trade (-57,000 or -2.4%)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>community services (-18,000 or -0.6%)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>business services (-4,000 or -0.2%)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>mining (-3,000 or -0.6%)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Total employment also dropped by 74,000 or -0.7% from March 2023 to March 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Full-time and part-time employment decreased by 16,000 or -0.2% and 38,000 or -3.1% quarter year-on-year, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The QES data aligns with the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS), which stated that South Africa\u2019s unemployment rate increased by up to 32.9%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The QLFS examines comprehensive employment and unemployment trends, while QES data reflect the number of South Africans receiving formal salaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The QLFS showed that the number of employed persons increased by 22,000 quarterly to 16.7 million in Q1 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That said, the number of unemployed persons jumped by 330,000 to 8.2 million over the same quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition, the number of people who were not economically active for reasons other than discouragement decreased by 214,000 to 13.1 million. Discouraged work-seekers, however, decreased by 1,000 in Q1 2024 compared to the fourth quarter of 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These figures caused a net decrease of 215,000 in the not economically active population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Read<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/780397\/the-big-shift-in-government-that-could-change-everything-or-nothing-at-all\/\">The big shift in government that could change everything \u2013 or nothing at all<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pnet&#8217;s latest Job Market Trends Report shows that hiring managers can be spooked by political events in South Africa. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":657609,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[26,16912],"class_list":["post-780687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-headline","tag-pnet"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=780687"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":780825,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780687\/revisions\/780825"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/657609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=780687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=780687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=780687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}