Tag: jobs

Raising the minimum wage may seem like a way to help alleviate the plight of working South Africans, but all it really accomplishes is pricing more and more people out of the job market.

According to Statistics South Africa, the SA unemployment rate in the third Quarter (Q3) of 2023 was 41.2% (7.8 million people). In addition, youth unemployment (ages 15 to 34 years) in Q3 was 4.6 million, out of a total of 12.4 million unemployed people in the country. The total population is 61.02 million.

South Africans have been slowly marching towards serfdom, and unless something drastic changes, this march will continue. With this year’s budget speech on the horizon, in an election year, the country and the world will get a glimpse as to how bad things could be in the short to medium term.

The Class of 2023 is eagerly anticipating the 18th of January for the release of their matric results. For some, their results will provide access to higher learning. For others, it’s their ticket to the working world - but while these youngsters may be keen to kickstart their careers, many will face the stark reality of scarce job opportunities and a struggling economy.

Removing the causes of mass youth unemployment in South Africa would have multiple positive consequences for job seekers. If small businesses and households, “the natural employers of young and untrained workers in an open labour market”, were free of the burden of the minimum wage and other unnecessary regulatory burdens that have been imposed on them, they could make an unprecedent contribution to the economy.

South Africa’s labour-law regime is difficult, if not impossible, for small businesses to comply with. It imposes a relatively higher cost on them than on large firms. This leads to fewer people employed in small businesses, and often leads to small businesses not being formalised and therefore certainly not complying with the law.

Employers must ensure they follow the right labour relations steps amidst a tough environment. Having recently slipped into a technical recession, the South African economy continues to experience dangerously low levels of economic growth, which does not bode well for national employment figures. Making matters worse is the technologically driven fourth industrial revolution which continues to threaten redundancy on a variety of jobs.