{"id":854075,"date":"2026-04-12T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=854075"},"modified":"2026-04-10T16:28:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T14:28:37","slug":"south-africans-not-offered-salaries-they-deserve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/854075\/south-africans-not-offered-salaries-they-deserve\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africans not offered salaries they deserve"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Many South Africans may not be earning the salaries they deserve, particularly in smaller companies that often lack access to reliable market benchmarks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salary benchmarking has historically been designed for large corporates and was often too expensive for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) to access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, smaller firms sometimes make salary offers based more on internal budgets rather than what the broader market is paying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the feedback from Job Crystal CEO Sasha Knott, who said this can lead to situations where job offers miss the mark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knott explained<\/a> in a recent interview that some companies get their job offer salary wrong because they lack the same resources or internal structures as larger companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, she said technological advances are helping to level the playing field. \u201cWith the advent of AI, SMEs now have the ability to get benchmark data at a fraction of the cost,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even when smaller companies cannot match corporate salaries, Knott said they can still offer other advantages that appeal to job seekers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She explained that smaller companies often provide broader learning opportunities and more varied work experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll learn more in a smaller firm than in a bigger one. The pie for SMEs is smaller, but you get to do more parts of it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Knott, employees in smaller firms are often exposed to a wider range of responsibilities because teams are smaller and less structured. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou definitely get much more experience in an SME,\u201d she said, adding that businesses should highlight this when recruiting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also pointed to additional benefits smaller firms can offer, including flexibility and fewer bureaucratic processes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not as structured with the red tape, which is definitely a plus for many people, as well as flexibility and remote working, which corporates aren\u2019t always able to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consequences of paying below-market salaries <\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
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Job Crystal CEO Sasha Knott<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Knott said salary decisions in small companies are often made by a single owner or founder rather than a large HR team. \u201cUsually we find it\u2019s one person doing most of it until about 50 employees,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is why accessible benchmarking tools are increasingly important. Knott noted that employers can now analyse salaries based on job descriptions rather than just titles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can enter a job description rather than just working on a job title, which will tell you what that pays and what\u2019s being paid in the market,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The data can also reveal broader trends in pay disparities. Knott said Job Crystal\u2019s analysis shows regional differences in pay levels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Knott, salaries are typically highest in Johannesburg, followed by Cape Town and KwaZulu-Natal, with other provinces generally offering lower pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always been an argument between Joburg and Cape Town,\u201d she said. \u201cJohannesburg pays about 10% more on average than Cape Town.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knott warned that paying below-market salaries can have serious consequences for businesses. Employees who realise they are underpaid are more likely to begin looking for other opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you find out that you could get paid more for the same job, you generally start looking around,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added that offering the wrong salary can create two major challenges for employers, which are slower recruitment and higher staff turnover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou take longer to recruit because you\u2019re not paying market value,\u201d Knott said. \u201cAnd when you\u2019re not paying the right salaries, your staff turnover is higher.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means businesses may end up spending more on recruitment and training in the long run, she said, even if they initially tried to save money by offering lower salaries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many South Africans may not be earning the salaries they deserve, particularly in smaller companies that often lack access to reliable market benchmarks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":832532,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[25014,853],"class_list":["post-854075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-job-crystal","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854075","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\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=854075"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854075\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":854091,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854075\/revisions\/854091"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/832532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=854075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=854075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=854075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}