For post-matric job hunters, the outlook is bleak

Hundreds of thousands of young adults leaving the cocoon of formal education, to either attend a tertiary education institution or start looking for a job in their chosen career path, will be stepping into an economy desperate for growth, but little place to grow.

“It’s a situation where many people are not going to find a job,” said economist Mike Schussler.

“We’re looking at more than 10 million people currently unemployed in South Africa. Every year there is about 600,000 brand new people and with power outages likely which will make business skittish, and government doesn’t have the money to employ more people, there will be ever more people who are unemployed.”

Schussler advised those who found themselves unemployed to “do anything”.

“Get the experience, get the part time job, get whatever you can, work for free, do whatever you can to get your foot on the ladder,” Schussler said.

“Even graduates are finding it difficult to find employment.”

Also, said technical and standards executive at the South African Institute of Professional Accountants Faith Ngwenya, graduates shouldn’t expect to walk straight into managerial positions with zero experience.

“They get a huge awakening when they are employed as normal staff and they have to work their way up,” Ngwenya said.

“A lot of them will leave such positions or such offers because they are not prepared to work as a junior staff member. It’s the one thing they need to wake up to, the job market is so small at this stage you have to take what you can and build yourself up.”

There were myriad reasons why youngsters didn’t make it to the end of their matric year, and Ngwenya also urged them to try for anything which would give experience at something.

“That experience will count for something, even if you were a packer at a retail shop. It gives you a level up over a graduate with no experience,” Ngwenya said.

The Sector Education and Training Authority (Seta) was an option as well for youngsters seeking to further their education and skills, Ngwenya noted.

The recently released ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey reported “South African employers report soft hiring intentions for the first quarter of 2020”.

While 10% of employers forecast an increase in payrolls, 8% anticipate a decrease and 81% expect to make no changes, the report stated.

“Once the data is adjusted to allow for seasonal variation, the outlook stands at +2%, and is the weakest reported in more than five years.”

Lyndy van den Barselaar, managing director of ManpowerGroup SA, said the local economy continued to be affected by subdued economic growth and a sluggish growth outlook.

“Policy uncertainty and a high unemployment rate remain a deep concern for local businesses who are looking to the new year with caution when it comes to their spending and hiring strategies,” Van den Barselaar said.

The report noted the strongest hiring forecast was in the finance, insurance, real estate and business services sector, with a predicted +9% increase.

“Some hiring opportunities are expected in the wholesale & retail trade sector and the agriculture, hunting, forestry & fishing sector, with outlooks of +7% and +5%, respectively, while the restaurants & hotels sector outlook is +4%,” read the report.

“Meanwhile, employers in three sectors expect to trim payrolls, most notably reflected in outlooks of -9% for the construction sector and -6% for the transport, storage and communications sector.”

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