There has been an increase in the hiring activity in South Africa.
Recruitment in finance, business and management, and admin, office and support, has shot up in the past three months.
This is according to Career Junction’s recent Employment Insights Report, which highlights a continued increase in recruitment activity over the last 13 months.
The increase, Career Junction says, signifies that employers are showing confidence in the local economy, but also that more opportunities are becoming available for jobseekers despite the ongoing challenges faced by the local economy.
“Between March 2021 and March 2022, hiring activity has increased by 39 percent. This is an uptake of 18 percent in job advertising, compared to the year-on-year stats for March 2020 to March 2021,” the report reads.
According to Stats SA, gross earnings paid to employees increased by R44.3 billion from R783 billion in September 2021 to R827.3 billion in December 2021, equating to an increase of 5,7 percent in the final quarter of the year.
Career Junction notes that year-on-year, gross earnings increased by R51,7 billion or (6,7 percent) between December 2020 and December 2021.
The job portal’s findings for the fourth quarter of 2020 to the first quarter of 2021 and the fourth quarter 2021 to the first quarter of 2022, reveal volatile salary trends within the IT industry.
“In contrast, professionals in account management, data analysis/data warehousing, human resources and financial/project accounting are being offered higher salaries compared to a year ago,” says Career Junction.
While there is no consistent change in the high end of salary offerings, advertised salary packages for roles in sales, finance and admin, office and support are generally at the same or at a better rate than they were a year ago.
“Admin, Office and Support has seen the biggest increase in hiring activity in the past three months. One reason for this may be that an increasing number of local companies are moving back to a more office-bound working environment as Covid-19 restrictions continue to ease,” reads the report.
While Information Technology continues to be the top-performing employment sector in South Africa, hiring activity in this area has declined by three percent in the last three months.
This decline, Career Junction says, may be partly attributed to increased emigration as travel restrictions are relaxed as well as the growing trend of “digital nomads” in the IT space.
Career Junction says it anticipates that 2022 will continue to reflect a market recovery in terms of recruitment activity over the next three months.
