Data from the latest Labour Market Dynamics, compiled by Stats SA, has laid bare racial and gender inequalities that dominate the labour market.
The data shows that the labour market continues to be more favourable to men than women regardless of population groups, as the unemployment rate among men is lower than that of women.
The Labour Market Dynamics provides information on labour market trends in 2016-2021.
The results of the study show that men are more likely to be employed regardless of race.
It also shows that black African men and women had the highest unemployment rate compared with other population groups, while the white population group had the lowest unemployment rate in 2016 and 2021.
The unemployment rate of black Africans, SA’s largest population group, is higher than that of other population groups, regardless of gender. Black African men recorded a 36% rate and women 40.8% in 2021, the report shows.
The data also shows that Eastern Cape had the highest unemployment rate with 45.8% of its citizens out of work, while the Western Cape had the highest absorption rate. The Eastern Cape also accounted for the largest share of people who participated in government’s expanded public works programme.
Gauteng had the highest labour participation rate.
Education continues to play an important role in the labour market, with those with higher levels of education standing a better chance to get employment. People with tertiary education are thus more likely to be employed compared with people with matric or less.
Lowest proportion
The Stats SA report reads the education of more than half of employed black Africans and coloureds were less than matric in 2021.
The white population group had the lowest proportion of the employed with qualifications less than matric, and the highest proportion of the employed who were graduates in both 2016 and 2021.
“The results from the Labour Force Survey suggest that experience, age, education [and] sex have played an important role in determining labour market outcomes and unemployment in SA. People with prior work experience are more likely to find a job than those without experience, with experience being even more important for young job seekers,” said statistician-general Risenga Maluleke.
“Overall, the findings indicate that while providing job experience (whether formal or informal) holds the key to lowering unemployment in the near term, especially for the most disadvantaged groups — that is youth, women and the black population group — improving educational achievements remains vital to doing so.”
Gender, the data shows, is a big factor regarding upward mobility in the workplace.
Stats SA said men accounted for larger shares of employment as managers over the period. “The results show that about 68% of men were employed in managerial occupations compared with 32% of women. Women were more likely to be employed as domestic workers, clerks and technicians relative to men. Men were more likely to work in craft and related trade, machine operator and skilled agriculture occupations,” the report reads.
Equity bill
“The share of the white population group employed in skilled occupations accounted for 61% in 2016 and increased to 65.1% in 2021. Black Africans had the lowest share of people employed in skilled occupations compared with other population groups (16.5% in 2016 and 17.2% in 2021).”
The department of employment and labour last year said it expects the Employment Equity Amendment Bill to come into effect in September 2023 after parliament gave the green light to the bill in May.
The bill aims to amend the Employment Equity Act and to provide for the minister to identify sectoral numerical targets to ensure the equitable representation of suitably qualified people from designated groups.
Commission for Employment Equity chairperson Tabea Kabinde said the private sector particularly has been sluggish in advancing women in leadership positions.
“The labour market is a microcosm of the SA society, so it stands to reason that women are generally disadvantaged in our society. The Covid-19 narrative cannot be ignored in this regard, since most of the people who lost their jobs during the pandemic were female and mainly black,” Kabinde said.
“Corporate SA needs to take a serious look at its recruitment and career-pathing practices, and the biases entrenched in these practices.”
The stats agency’s data shows that male employees are more likely to be members of a trade union compared with their female counterparts.
The largest increase in the proportion of employees who were members of a trade union was among employees in utilities followed by those in finance and trade.
More than half (56.1%) of employees indicated that their annual salary increment was determined by the employer only in 2016. This decreased to 52.1% in 2021.
Stats SA said employees whose salary increment was negotiated by a union and the employer recorded the second-highest proportion of 22% in 2016 and rose to 24.9% in 2021.
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