Worst job losses in three years
TJ Strydom
SOUTH Africans are feeling the impact of feebler economic growth on employment as thousands see their jobs disappear and their prospects dissipate.
More and more economists are scaling down their growth forecasts as the rising fuel price, a higher interest rate and other costs bump up employers' expenses, squeeze their margins and make them less likely to hire new staff. More than 100000 full-time jobs were lost last month alone, a survey by workforce management company Adcorp shows.
Labour analyst Loane Sharp said this was the worst in three years.
"The biggest losses occurred in permanent work, which lost 104593 jobs during the month, and temporary work, which lost 26832 jobs during the month. Only the informal sector created jobs [13028]," he said.
Though mining was the worst hit, followed by transport and logistics, all sectors of the economy shed jobs, according to Sharp.
Adcorp's numbers paint a different picture from Statistics SA's quarterly labour force survey, which saw the unemployment rate improve by 0.4 percentage points to 24.1% in the last three months of last year.
But a survey by the Manpower Group reports only "limited opportunities for job seekers" for at least the next three months.
The Treasury expects economic growth of 2.7% this year, but economists from Barclays Capital have lowered their forecasts and expect the economy to grow by not much more than last year's feeble 1.9%. "We have cut our 2014 growth forecast for South Africa from 2.7% to 2.2% to take account of expected rate hikes, the platinum sector strike and increasingly tight electricity supply constraints," Barclays said in a report released yesterday.
Employers are cautious about expanding their businesses in uncertain times.
Manpower SA managing director Lyndy van Barselaar thinks the employment market will remain reserved. "While the country's business environment is still in the process of recovering from the recession, economic growth has been slow-paced. This has an enormous impact on employment," she said.
Even in a vulnerable sector, such as mining, which Adcorp's index has shown to be a big loser last month, a stalemate is still endangering jobs.
As many as 70000 workers in the platinum industry have been on strike for seven weeks as the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union remains intent on securing R12500 a month for its members – even if they only realise it a few years down the line.
By yesterday afternoon platinum producers Anglo Platinum, Impala and Lonmin had lost more than R7.7-billion in revenue, while employees had foregone nearly R3.5- billion in wages.
