Engineering News writes that PwC Strategy’s ‘SA Economic Outlook 2022’ report indicates that SA is experiencing jobless growth, with the country now topping the global charts for both aggregate unemployment, as well as youth unemployment.
The document reports on PwC South Africa’s core macroeconomic forecasts for the country as of 24 January, based on different forward-looking scenarios. The report finds that the closure of companies, owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, load-shedding and other factors, and the scaling down of activities by others, have had a big negative impact on SA’s employment over the past two years. Moreover, following the week-long unrest in July 2021, and the adverse impact this had on economic activity and physical infrastructure, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal lost a combined 323,000 jobs during the third quarter of 2021. This contributed to a total loss of 660,000 employment opportunities in that quarter. While total employment is almost back to lockdown Level 5 levels, the report indicates that the loss of semiskilled services employment has contributed to the jobless growth trend. Semiskilled employment is nearly 19% lower compared with before the Covid-19 pandemic. Semiskilled jobs include aggregates for sale staff, craft and related trades, clerks, plant and machine operators, as well as skilled agricultural workers. The biggest number of jobs lost was in the category for sales and services. This group includes, among others, jobs like travel attendants, restaurant service workers, shop salespersons and demonstrators. The report notes that it is understandable how these jobs have declined over the past two years given how Covid-19 – and the July 2021 unrest – has impacted the retail and hospitality sectors. The report posits that, with 11.5-million unemployed and discouraged adults in SA, it would be highly beneficial for the country to have a business environment that is supportive of entrepreneurs.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Engineering News
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