Employment in South Africa grew at the annualized rate of 6.8 percent for the month of March outstripping growth in the previous two months, the latest installment of the Adcorp Employment Index says.

A total of 108 826 jobs were created in March – a marked acceleration from the 24 000 jobs created in February and 80 000 jobs created in January, leading to the strongest monthly showing of job creation since the 2009 recession, Adcorp’s report says.

The strongest growth was in temporary employment which grew by 11.3% and permanent jobs which grew by 9.2%. Growth in the informal sector was a more modest 0.6% while the only category to show a decline was agency work – down by 3098 jobs.

Growth was strong across all employment categories with transport and logistics (15.2%), electricity and utilities (13.3%) and mining (12%) enjoying the most growth. (more…)

How much does Johannesburg weigh?

How many people in Cape Town are on Facebook on any given Friday at 11.30pm?

What??!

You are right when you say to yourself that no one can know. These questions are not meant to be answered; they are in fact designed so they can’t be answered with calculators, years of experience or even the all-knowing Google.

These questions are called brainteasers – oddball questions which test your ability to think laterally. Large IT companies and consulting firms use them to test their future employees on their abilities as problem solvers, watching the thought process very carefully to see if creativity is combined with intelligence. (more…)

The guys over at wisebread.com posed an interesting question: how much of what you “say” is actually interpreted through body language and tone of voice? According to Professor Albert Mehrabian only 7% of a message is conveyed verbally, through words. The other 93% is split between tone of voice (38%) and body language (55%). In fact, it’s widely known as the 7-38-55 rule.

Now we all know to prepare answers for a wide array potential questions but how many of us practice positive body language to help us get our next dream job? (more…)

The number of new business start-ups has fallen to an all-time low, says Adcorp, the JSE-listed human capital management group.

The group’s February 2012 Employment Index highlights with alarm the closure of 440 000 small business closures over the past five years. The gravity of the situation is emphasised by the fact that 68% of all South African workers are employed by small business employing fewer than 50 people.

Loane Sharp, labour economist at Adcorp, identifies several contributing factors:

the 2009 recession;

an increased tax incidence that has fallen significantly more on small businesses than on medium and large enterprises; and labour laws and regulations that have been “particularly onerous” for small businesses.

The Adcorp analysis reveals that employment grew at an annualised rate of 1,5% in February, with the economy having created 24 000 jobs compared to the 80 000 jobs created in January.

(more…)

While no significant changes in all kinds of jobs – formal, informal, permanent and temporary – were seen during October, South Africa’s labour productivity fell to its lowest level in 40 years.

Adcorp’s monthly Employment Index for October 2011, released in Johannesburg this morning, reveals that throughout 2011 labour productivity growth has been negative, with an all time low reached last month.
Labour productivity is a leading indicator of job creation.

Meanwhile, this month’s Index also shows that employment dropped slightly in the mining (-7.8%), construction (-7.0%) and manufacturing (-4.5%) sectors on an annualized basis. Adcorp labour market analyst Loane Sharp says these losses were offset by job increases in wholesale and retail trade (+4.4%) and financial services (+3.0%). (more…)

Business has changed – it started with the ‘war for talent’, and continued with the ongoing skills shortage and our younger generations’ new expectations. So as leaders we need to involve ourselves continuously in creating a company culture in which our people are happy and want to stay with us.

People who are happy at work are naturally more productive, which impacts positively on individual and company success.

I am a firm believer in a happy culture, and I have seen five main drivers, both at DAV and at many of our client companies:

1. Contribution

All people have a desire to know they contribute to their colleagues and leaders as well as to their company’s success. Let’s communicate on an ongoing basis about how our people contribute to larger company goals. When people see that what they do makes a difference, and that their views and opinions matter, they feel valued and appreciated. At DAV,
we create an environment where we consistently appreciate what our people bring to the table.

2. Conviction

When people keep going even when things get tough they develop a sense of resilience, efficiency and effectiveness. It’s challenging, however, to stay motivated which is how we can help: Let’s keep reminding our people of the ultimate goal and looking for different ways to motivate them. When we can convince people of the value of staying strong, believing in themselves (and their company) and working towards victory, their level of pride and resilience is amazing.

In 37 years DAV has seen difficult times and recessions. I believe what made the difference every time was our conviction we would not only get through it, but emerge better people and better professionals. (more…)

Growth in economic activity in the informal sector is rising in South Africa while official employment is under pressure.

This trend in South Africa’s labour market environment is highlighted in the latest monthly Adcorp Employment Index, released in Johannesburg this morning, which has tracked employment trends for the month of September 2011.

Loane Sharp, Adcorp Labour Market Analyst, says: “The size of the informal job sector has peaked at almost half that of officially recorded employment in South Africa. In September alone, this sector grew at an annual rate of 7.7%.” (more…)

There are few worse feelings for a manager than when a valued employee announces he or she is leaving. Last month we chatted about how to spot signs of discontent, now what can we do if they are there?

Luckily – in most cases – employee resignation is a process, not an event, so we have time to address the situation. The best news for anyone charged with leading people: we can interrupt the disengagement process and salvage key talent at critical, predictable points along the decision path to departure. (more…)

If you are CA and have been actively seeking employment in the recent job market you may have been feeling somewhat frustrated with the shortage of opportunities available to you. Have you found this? I would love to hear about your latest experiences in the job market especially over this past year or so.

For us, as recruiters, we have definitely experienced a shortage of opportunities for new CA’s and ones with 1 to 2 years post qualifying experience. This shortage has been emphasized by the definite increase of CA’s in the market place. We have found the market to be saturated with recently qualified CA’s – largely due to a limited number of international opportunities coupled with many of the audit firms decision not to retain as many CA’s as previous years. This has left us with an over-supply of recently qualified CA and a limited number of positions, which I am sure you agree has caused much frustration for all. This has also caused a bigger demand for the positions that do become available and a levelling out of salary. For example – the starting salary for a new CA in Cape Town is around R360K however some candidates have been accepting R300K – R340K to get the position – and get their foot in the door. (more…)

Considerable uncertainty surrounds the current condition of the South African economy. According to
Statistics SA, mining and manufacturing figures for July indicate a decisive slowdown in production levels,
suggesting that global economic weakness continues to affect South African producers adversely.
However, Investec’s Hard Numbers Index produced by Prof Brian Kantor suggests that the consumer – as
measured by domestic vehicle sales and the demand for bank notes – is generally buoyant, while
liquidations and insolvencies continue to improve suggesting that consumer indebtedness and small
business earnings are improving. (more…)