SA HR news roundup: Stats SA reveals slight improvement in unemployment rate in Q2 2022

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Transnet declares wage dispute with unions, which are looking for a 12 percent increase.

Statistics South Africa’s latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey shows that the number of people employed in South Africa reached 15.6 million in the second quarter of 2022, a slight improvement from the previous quarter, while the City of Cape Town announces its intent to create 25,000 temporary jobs through Expanded Public Works Programme projects. State-owned entity Transnet has formally declared a wage dispute with unions, Satawu and UNTU. TransUnion sees potential for job creation in business process outsourcing, creating 500 jobs in 500 days.


Cape Town to create 25,000 EPWP jobs

An estimated 25,000 temporary jobs are expected to be created by the City of Cape Town, through various Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) projects.

A budget of more than R500 million has been allocated in the 2022/2023 financial year to support the implementation of these projects.

Work opportunities include field workers, traffic wardens, cleaning, data capturing and call centre workers, among others.

“More than 3,600 permanent workers’ positions at the city have been filled by residents who have previously benefited from the EPWP since the programme began,” said Grant Twigg, mayoral committee member for urban waste management.

Transnet declares wage dispute with unions

State-owned entity Transnet says a wage dispute had been formally declared with the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) and the United National Transport Union (UNTU) after negotiations which started in May.

Unions, which have rejected its offer of a 1.5 percent increase on employees' pay, excluding medical and housing allowances, are looking for a 12 percent increase on annual guaranteed pay.

TransUnion employs 500 people in 500 days

TransUnion’s Global Capability Centre Africa (GCC Africa) has employed one person a day since opening its virtual doors in March 2021 – with more than 500 South Africans having joined the business in that time.

Of these, more than 70 percent are women. The company has a 100 percent virtual operating model.

South Africa was named the most attractive business process outsourcing location in the world in 2022, together with India, by the Ryan Strategic Advisory Front Office CX Omnibus Survey.

Unemployment rate improves

The unemployment rate decreased to 33.9 percent in the second quarter of 2022.

“Our economy is recovering, coming out of Covid-19, and we can see that it is making strides in terms of employment,” statistician-general Risenga Maluleke said.

Statistics South Africa’s (Stats SA’s) latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey shows that the number of people employed in South Africa reached 15.6 million in the second quarter,

The community and social services sector showed the largest job gains of 276,000, followed by 169,000 new jobs recorded in trade, 128 000 new jobs in finance and 104,000 in construction.

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