Analysis of South Africa’s employment data by Stats SA shows that adult men with tertiary education have the best chances of securing a job in the country, and the Western Cape has the best retention rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tracking cohorts between 2019 and 2024, Stats SA found that the country’s employment stability has deteriorated over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2019, 94% of people employed in the third quarter of that year were still employed by the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By 2024, the number had dropped to 91.8%. While the vast majority of people retained their jobs, the 2.2 percentage point decrease signals a notable shift in stability, the statistics body said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The same trend appears among people who were not economically active. In 2019, 90.7% stayed in that category between Q3 and Q4, compared to 89.0% in 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For those who were unemployed, the change is even more noticeable: 74.2% remained unemployed between the two quarters in 2019, while in 2024, that number fell to 72.8%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“These small changes tell a bigger story about movement in the labour market,” Stats SA said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The group noted that the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) tracks the same individuals over time, allowing for the identification of those who remain in the same category and those who transition between employment, unemployment, and inactivity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This kind of data is crucial for shaping policies that help people\u2014especially young people\u2014find work,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the most clear-cut opportunities is education, with Stats SA noting that investing in higher education makes a significant difference in helping people transition into employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This aligns with its wider assessment, which examines various characteristics that reveal patterns about who transitions into employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People with prior work experience have a much better chance of finding a job in 2024\u20149.8% compared to 2.6% for those without experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Regarding education, those with a tertiary qualification experienced a 7.5% transition rate, while individuals without a matriculation certificate managed only 4.8%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Age and gender play a role, too. The youth had a transition rate of 4.3%, and women had a rate of 4.6%, both lower than that of adults (7.3%) and men (6.5%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Where someone lives also has a significant impact, as retention rates vary across provinces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Western Cape leads the way, with 93.9% of employed people remaining in employment, while the Free State has the lowest retention rate at 87.8%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to moving into employment, the North West recorded the lowest transition rate at 4.4%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stats SA highlighted various other factors that also impact retention and transition, including the type of contracts, skills and industry, and whether it is short-term or long-term employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In terms of contracts, permanent contracts offer the most stability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “People on permanent contracts were far more likely to stay employed than those on limited or unspecified contracts,” Stats SA said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Interestingly, employees with unspecified contracts were the most likely to transition into roles as employers or own-account workers (2.6%), compared to 1.4% for limited contracts and 1.0% for permanent ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Low-skilled workers face the highest risk of leaving employment\u201412.3% in 2024\u2014followed by semi-skilled workers at 8.2%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Skilled workers are much more secure, with only 2.8% moving out of employment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Industry trends show a similar pattern: those in primary sector industries had an 11.5% likelihood of leaving employment, higher than in other sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A notable finding is that the longer someone remains unemployed, the more difficult it becomes to find work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n People in short-term unemployment had a 17.5% chance of transitioning into employment, compared to just 7.4% for those in long-term unemployment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Overall, the data paints a clear picture of how employment dynamics have shifted over time. While retention rates remain high, slight declines suggest growing movement within the labour market,” Stats SA said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Understanding these shifts is key to appreciating the challenges and opportunities within South Africa\u2019s labour market as it evolves.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Analysis of South Africa’s employment data by Stats SA shows which people have the best chances of securing jobs in South Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":699621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[1398,1809,3651],"class_list":["post-847256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-jobs","tag-stats-sa","tag-unemployment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847256","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\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=847256"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":847265,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847256\/revisions\/847265"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/699621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=847256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=847256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=847256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Indicator<\/th> Easiest transition into employment<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> Work experience<\/td> Prior work experience<\/td><\/tr> Education<\/td> Tertiary<\/td><\/tr> Age<\/td> 35-64<\/td><\/tr> Gender<\/td> Male<\/td><\/tr> Location<\/td> Western Cape<\/td><\/tr> Contract<\/td> Permanent<\/td><\/tr> Skills<\/td> Skilled<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n The people most likely to find a job in South Africa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n