South Africa’s Ailing Economy Takes A Toll On IT Jobs

CareerJunction, a web service for recruiters and job seekers has released its latest CareerJunction Index (CJI). The report has shown that the number of advertised jobs in South Africa has recorded a decline.

The CareerJunction Index is based on information gathered from the company’s website and monitors the labor market in South Africa by examining supply and demand trends.

The report showed there is a rise in competition for jobs as well as weakening employment probability.

The report corresponds with an earlier report that showed the country’s South Africa’s unemployment rate increased to 27.6 percent in the first quarter of 2019, the worst level since 2017.

South Africa’s unemployment rate is one of the highest in the world. The crisis is even made worse owed to the country’s significant socio-economic challenges: poverty and inequality.

The report further showed that the demand has weakened across the admin, office, and support, engineering, business and management, and ICT sectors.

Experts had predicted that the economic slow down could see some companies retrenching, a scenario which came to pass.

The alarming state of the Cyril Ramaphosa-led country has taken a toll on a number of companies, many of which have announced retrenchments.

Among companies that made known their retrenchments include: Dunkin Donuts & Baskin Robbins – 120 jobs, Standard Bank – maximum 1,200 jobs, Group 5 undisclosed Absa – 827 jobs, Tongaat Hulett – 5,000 jobs, Sibanye-Stillwater – 3,450 jobs, Multichoice – 2,000 jobs, among others.

For South Africa to be able to provide job opportunities, experts say that the country ought to grow its economy.

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