Business Times reports that the construction sector added 104,000 jobs in the second quarter of 2022, but industry leaders say it is still too early to talk of a rebound since the number of people employed remains below pre-pandemic levels.
According to Stats SA’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS), the industry was one of four that added more than 100,000 jobs quarter on quarter, and helped take the total number of new jobs to 648,000 in the three months to end-June. Gregory Mofokeng, CEO of the Black Business Council in the Built Environment, said the sector was clawing back losses after being hit hard during the Covid-19 lockdown, when several thousand workers were laid off. “The context is that we are recovering jobs we have lost. We are not at a point where we are saying we are adding new jobs. It is a reversal of fortunes just to normalise,” he noted. Mofokeng added that the construction industry had been in recession and had continued to lose jobs even though the overall economy was showing signs of recovery. As such, the numbers were nowhere near where they should be. “A lot of jobs that are being created are entry-level, and the reason for that is many throughout the difficult period decided to keep skilled employees. You will not see a lot of skilled jobs being created, the jobs are coming in at the lower end of the ladder – it shows the intensity of the programme,” Mofokeng pointed out. The Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) has previously said that underspending by government departments was a significant contributor to the lack of jobs. Mofokeng said the council was seeing a rise in projects headed by state-owned companies, led by Transnet, and Eskom. SA’s metros and public works were also increasing infrastructure projects.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Dineo Faku at Business Times (subscriber access only)
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