Recruitment data shows that most job sectors are returning to pre-pandemic levels of hiring activity.
Under the 4-Day Week pilot, employees at IQbusiness gain an extra day off per peek – but are expected to commit to maintaining 100 percent of their output. The latest Pnet Job Market Trends Reports shows that most job sectors in South Africa are returning to pre-pandemic levels of hiring activity and unions voice their concerns over the finance minister budgeting for a three percent wage increase.
IQbusiness joins 4-Day Week pilot
Management and technology consulting firm IQbusiness will be participating in a 4-Day Week pilot.
Employees will work 80 percent of their working week (gaining an extra day off per week) on full pay. So, the work week reduces from a standard 40 hours to 32 hours.
“A four-day week, and the data behind it, is something every leader needs to seriously consider in their business. A reduction in working hours has been proven to increase business productivity, improve employee health outcomes, while working towards building a more sustainable working environment. This offers people the time and solitude to simultaneously build stronger families and communities while remaining fulfilled and successful at work,” said Adam Craker, CEO at IQbusiness.
Hiring activity tracks up
Most job sectors are returning to pre-pandemic levels of hiring activity, with job vacancies almost across the board.
This is according to the latest Pnet Job Market Trends Report, which provides insights into recruitment and employment trends in the South African market.
The report notes that recruitment activity continued to increase by a seasonally adjusted four percent quarter-on-quarter and, in terms of year-on-year change, the number of employment offers increased by 19 percent.
The job market has experienced a strong recovery since the pandemic and the resulting economic restrictions in 2020, said Pnet.
Chieta launches Western Cape skills centre
The Chemical Industries Education and Training Authority (Chieta) has unveiled a Smart Skills Centre in Saldanha Bay, Western Cape.
“The Smart Skills Centres were planned to usher in a new era of skills development and training that would be located within rural communities and able to offer digitised training programmes for rural masses,” the Sector Education and Training Authority (Seta) said.
The project is the culmination of a partnership between Chieta, the Industrial Development Zone (IDZ), the National Electronic Media Institute of South Africa (Nemisa), and the Media, Information and Communication Technologies Sector Education and Training Authority (MICT Seta).
The centre’s services are free and include access to data and training courses aimed at job seekers, business start-ups and small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs).
Unions reject finance minister’s wage budget
Unions have reacted to Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana formalising the implementation of a three percent wage increase in his Medium-term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) which was tabled on 26 October 2022, saying the decision was akin to the government negotiating wages through Parliament.
Godongwana has maintained that there was no room in the fiscus for the government to offer more.
