NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Kenya’s earnings from tourism rose 3.9% last year to 163.56 billion shillings ($1.61 billion), thanks to a slight increase in the number of visitors, its tourism minister said on Friday.



The East African nation, which relies on tourism as a major source of foreign exchange and jobs, had 2.05 million tourists last year, an increase of 1%, said Najib Balala.



An attack on a hotel and office complex in Nairobi last January, and a general slowdown in the global tourism business, were to blame for the low growth in arrival numbers, he said.



Along with agricultural exports and money sent home by Kenyans living abroad, tourism is one of the top foreign exchange earners.



Kenya has a variety of products, from beach holidays at the coast to Safaris in the Maasai Mara wildlife reserve, but it attracts fewer visitors than African competitors like South Africa due to frequent political upheavals and insurgent attacks.



Between 2012 and 2015, visitor numbers and tourism earnings fell after a spate of attacks claimed by Somalia’s al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab, which wants Nairobi to pull its troops out of Somalia.



A reduction in attacks in the years that followed allowed the sector to rebound.



($1 = 101.5000 Kenyan shillings)



Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Duncan Miriri and Kim Coghill

Kenya’s tourism earnings up 3.9%

The 2010s kicked off a decade of uncertainty within the job market. Many sectors were still dealing with the aftermath of the Great Recession, the national&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2010/ted_20100217.htm" class="" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">unemployment rate</a>&nbsp;sat at 9.7%, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.epi.org/press/class_of_2010_faces_worst_job_market_in_a_generation_says_epi_report/" class="" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">class of 2010</a>&nbsp;graduated into the worst job market in a generation, and by the summer of 2010, more than a million job seekers&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/id/37554163" class="">quit looking for employment</a>.



However, now at the close of the decade, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/06/us-nonfarm-payrolls-november-2019.html" class="">job market has markedly improved</a>&nbsp;for most workers. That’s especially true for those in the technology space.



While developing tech has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/05/map-the-us-cities-where-robots-are-impacting-jobs-the-most.html" class="">eliminated some job functions</a>, it’s also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/27/high-paid-well-educated-white-collar-jobs-heavily-affected-by-ai-new-report.html" class="">redefined</a>&nbsp;and created completely new roles in the past 10 years — many that pay well, thanks in part to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/06/how-switching-careers-to-tech-could-solve-the-us-talent-shortage.html" class="">a short supply of workers</a>&nbsp;with the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/19/these-will-be-the-top-10-most-popular-tech-skills-of-2020.html" class="">right skill sets</a>&nbsp;to fill emerging jobs that are crucial to keeping businesses competitive.



<a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/make-it/">CNBC Make It</a> spoke with Glassdoor senior economic research analyst Amanda Stansell about the jobs that barely existed at the turn of the decade, but that have exploded in growth and median base pay through the 2010s.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Data scientist: $107,697 per year</h2>



In 2012, Harvard Business Review named data scientist&nbsp;<a href="https://hbr.org/2012/10/data-scientist-the-sexiest-job-of-the-21st-century" class="" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">“the sexiest job of the 21st century</a>.” And for the past four years, Glassdoor has recognized it as the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/22/glassdoor-the-20-best-jobs-in-america-in-2019.html" class="">No. 1 job in the U.S.</a>&nbsp;based on job satisfaction, pay and opportunities.



Stansell says demand for data scientists is still most concentrated within the tech industry, but that it’s growing across every sector: health care, finance, business, retail, media and beyond.



“All these companies have a need for a data scientist who can make use of the growing amount of data they have and turn it into something valuable,” Stansell says.



While the term “data science” was first coined as an independent discipline (separate from traditional statistics) in 2001 by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.stat.purdue.edu/~wsc/" class="" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">William S. Cleveland</a>, jobs in data science have grown most rapidly since 2010. That’s because as more companies are investing in technology to collect user data, the need for professionals to interpret said data has skyrocketed.



Because it’s still a relatively new field, many of today’s data scientists have varied backgrounds in computer science, math, statistics and engineering. However, <a class="" rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2017/03/15/data-analytics-programs-taking-colleges" target="_blank">more universities</a> have begun offering specific degrees, courses and even bootcamps in data science within the past decade.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Information security engineer: $100,553 per year</h2>



Since 2010, data breaches have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/23/the-10-biggest-data-hacks-of-the-decade.html" class="">compromised over 38 billion accounts,</a>&nbsp;according to the cybersecurity firm Risk Based Security.



These breaches, and the need to protect user data, has resulted in information security being one of the fastest-growing fields. Information security engineers work to safeguard an organization’s computer network systems, and plan and carry out security measures to protect sensitive information from infiltration and cyber attacks.



“As there have been more and more high-profile data breaches in recent years, this has translated to companies seeing the need for having people who can help them protect their data,” Stansell says.



The field is projected to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/information-security-analysts.htm" class="" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">grow by 32% through 2028</a>, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (The average growth rate for all occupations is 5%.)



However, the need for information security engineers has far eclipsed the number of people with the skills to do the job. The U.S. Department of Commerce&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/09/cybersecurity-jobs-non-technical-workers.html" class="">recently estimated</a>&nbsp;there are 350,000 unfilled cybersecurity jobs in the country. Cybersecurity Ventures, an analytics and research company, estimates 3.5 million jobs in cybersecurity around the world are likely to go unfilled by 2021.



This talent shortage means workers in the field are paid handsomely. While Glassdoor data says information security engineers earn a median base salary of just over $100,000 per year, top-level jobs in the field, like chief information security officer, can yield <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/09/cybersecurity-jobs-non-technical-workers.html">pay above $300,000 in top metro areas</a>, according to cybersecurity recruiting firm SilverBull.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Director of diversity and inclusion: $98,154 per year</h2>



The only top-paying emerging job of the decade that doesn’t fall into the tech space is one that focuses on workplace culture, particularly within diversity and inclusion. The position of D&amp;I director is so new, Glassdoor doesn’t have adequate pay data for the specific role, but uses Human Resources Director salaries with an average pay of $98,154 per year as a guide.



According to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.glassdoor.com/about-us/diversity-inclusion-2019/" class="" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">2019 Glassdoor survey</a>, 61% of U.S. employees have witnessed or experienced discrimination in the workplace based on age, race, gender or LGBTQ identity. Meanwhile, the career site saw a 30% increase in the past year of diversity and inclusion job openings, such as D&amp;I director, program manager, diversity recruiter and D&amp;I consultant.



“This signals that these are issues employees are facing, and employers are catching up and trying to make an impact in this field,” Stansell says, “which is really an encouraging sign that employers are making the investment towards an inclusive workplace.”



Larger companies with 5,000 or more employees are the ones making the biggest investment in growing their D&amp;I departments, likely because they have the financial resources to do so.



Stansell predicts progress in these types of roles will continue into the next decade. According to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/press-releases/inclusion-survey.html" class="" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">2017 survey from Deloitte</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/26/75-percent-of-execs-would-leave-their-company-for-one-that-values-diversity.html" class="">72% of employees</a>&nbsp;said they would consider leaving their company to join another with better diversity initiatives and programs.



“In the next few years, we’ll continue to see medium-sized companies invest in diversity and inclusion, especially as it is such an important thing to job seekers,” Stansell says.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Sales engineer: $90,000 per year</h2>



Sales engineers work for tech companies to sell customized software and products to other businesses looking to expand their IT efforts.



“As tech companies are offering really high-value products to potential customers, they need to have the ability to adapt to each individual [client],” Stansell says. “Having a sales engineer, who is a communicator between the sales and engineering aspects, is really important make sure that the needs of the potential customer are met.”



Because workers must have extensive knowledge of these products and understand the scientific processes behind their operations, sales engineers tend to have technical backgrounds (for example, a degree in computer science or engineering). However, Stansell adds they also need solid interpersonal skills such as communication, negotiation and marketing know-how in order to provide customized solutions to clients during the sales process.



Those with a marketing background may also be able to learn more about tech products and software in order to transition into this type of role.



While Glassdoor puts the annual median salary of a sales engineer at $90,000 per year, pay can vary based on what they’re selling. For example, the <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/23/glassdoor-the-7-highest-paying-sales-jobs-in-the-us.html">Bureau of Labor Statistics says</a> those operating in the telecommunications industry tend to earn the most, about <a class="" rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.bls.gov/ooh/sales/sales-engineers.htm#tab-5" target="_blank">$118,000 a year</a>, followed by sales engineers in computer systems design and wholesale electronic markets, who also command six-figure salaries.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Salesforce developer: $80,357 per year</h2>



While Salesforce, the cloud-based software company that specializes in customer relationship management, was founded in 1999, its influence in U.S. workplaces expanded vastly in the past 10 years, so much so that the role of Salesforce developer became a sought-after position at companies such as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.glassdoor.com/Job/jobs.htm?sc.keyword=salesforce%20developer&amp;amp;locT=&amp;amp;locId=0&amp;amp;locKeyword=&amp;amp;jobType=all&amp;amp;fromAge=-1&amp;amp;minSalary=0&amp;amp;includeNoSalaryJobs=true&amp;amp;radius=25&amp;amp;cityId=-1&amp;amp;minRating=0.0&amp;amp;industryId=-1&amp;amp;sgocId=-1&amp;amp;seniorityType=all&amp;amp;companyId=-1&amp;amp;employerSizes=5&amp;amp;applicationType=0&amp;amp;remoteWorkType=0" class="" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Google, Amazon, PwC and Uber</a>.



As a Salesforce developer, workers use the Salesforce platform or cloud technology to code software or application solutions for their company to better connect with customers, partners and potential customers.



“It’s a job completely born out of successful technology product that’s changed the ways companies function and organize data,” Stansell says.



Developers generally have a background in computer science and may&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/19/these-will-be-the-top-10-most-popular-tech-skills-of-2020.html" class="">pursue certification</a>&nbsp;in specific&nbsp;<a href="https://trailhead.salesforce.com/credentials/developeroverview" class="" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Salesforce applications</a>&nbsp;or processes. That said, these developers also need&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/21/10-top-soft-skills-to-master-for-2020-if-you-want-a-raise-promotion-or-new-job.html" class="">soft skills</a>, such as communication, in order to interpret data and workflows for a non-technical audience.



“I think we’ll continue to see this trend in the future with really successful tech products,” Stansell says, adding, “people who are able to learn those skills and apply them for different companies can have really great career paths.”



This article was first published on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/30/5-high-paying-growing-jobs-that-will-be-booming-through-the-2020s.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/30/5-high-paying-growing-jobs-that-will-be-booming-through-the-2020s.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

These 5 high-paying, growing jobs didn’t exist a decade ago—but they’ll be booming through the 2020s

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/karen-gilchrist/">Karen Gilchrist</a>



<a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/search/?query=Artificial%20intelligence">Artificial intelligence</a> and <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/cloud-computing/">cloud computing</a> are terms once reserved for the realms of science fiction. But, today, they’ve become an increasingly important — and lucrative — fixture of the employment landscape.



“Some of the top skills we’re seeing that are in great demand are artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing,” Feon Ang, vice president for talent and learning solutions in Asia Pacific at professional networking site&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=LNKD" class="">LinkedIn</a>.



The demand applies globally. However, it especially pertains to the <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/19/linkedin-these-are-the-most-in-demand-skills-jobs-in-asia-pacific.html">most sought-after skills in Asia Pacific</a>, which is currently suffering a “brain drain,” whereby talented workers are relocating overseas for better socio-economic prospects, Ang told CNBC’s “Capital Connection” Tuesday.



Tech skills should not be viewed in isolation, though — especially given the changing nature of technology.



By some measures, the average skill now lasts&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/20/creative-skills-critical-to-protect-workers-from-automation-expert.html" class="">just six years</a>, which means that workers should be well-equipped with the skills to adapt to the changing work environment.



Such so-called soft skills include <a class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/21/future-of-work-these-5-traits-pose-the-biggest-skills-gap-linkedin.html">critical thinking, creativity, and problem solving</a>, noted Ang.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/CNBC-.png" alt="" class="wp-image-343463" width="436" height="526"/></figure></div>



Increasingly, employers and governments are looking at ways to prepare their workforce for such shifts in the jobs landscape.



Amazon&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/11/amazon-plans-to-spend-700-million-to-retrain-a-third-of-its-workforce-in-new-skills-wsj.html" class="">announced last month</a>&nbsp;that it plans to invest $700 million to retrain a third of its workforce. Meanwhile, Democratic presidential hopeful Andrew Yang is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/19/andrew-yang-on-google-amazon-helping-pay-for-his-ubi-plan.html" class="">rallying support for a universal basic income</a>&nbsp;to help Americans cope with volatile future work prospects.



Non-profit organizations, such as international training academy&nbsp;<a href="https://www.womenwhocode.com/" class="">Women Who Code</a>, are also cropping up to address growing skills gaps.



Women Who Code provides training and support from women pursuing careers in tech specifically. But the firm’s CEO, Alaina Percival, told CNBC Tuesday that more companies should be providing training, regardless of whether or not their employees’ work is directly technical.



“This really needs to be done more broadly and it needs to be starting at even younger ages,” said Percival. “Every industry is becoming a technology industry. There aren’t enough highly skilled workers to fill the current market needs.”



However, the responsibility for picking up new skills also falls to individuals, said Ang.



She said the growing availability of free training courses has made accessing education much simpler.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/learning/" class="">LinkedIn Learning</a>, for instance, hosts a wide range of video-based courses, she noted. Meanwhile, more than 10,000 free — or partially free — programs from&nbsp;<a href="https://qz.com/1437623/600-free-online-courses-you-can-take-from-universities-worldwide/" class="">a consortium of 800 universities are also available online</a>&nbsp;via a scheme called Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).



“It’s important for companies to continue to invest in their people so that they are upskilling and reskilling their people to keep up with the roles that are in demand,” said Ang.



“But, at the same time, people need to continue to invest in themselves and have a growth mind set,” she said.



This article first appeared on CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/22/linkedin-ai-big-data-cloud-computing-among-top-future-tech-skills.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/22/linkedin-ai-big-data-cloud-computing-among-top-future-tech-skills.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

LinkedIn calls these 3 of the most sought-after tech skills

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; The South African unit of Ford Motor Co said on Wednesday it would hire an additional 1,200 staff at one of its local assembly plants, an increase of over 25 percent, to add an extra shift and raise production.



The additional shift, which will increase production to 720 vehicles per day, is the result of a 3 billion rand ($215 million) investment in South Africa that was announced in 2017, aimed at increasing annual production to 168,000 units.



The U.S.-owned company currently employs around 4,300 people in South Africa, at the plant in the Silverton suburb of South Africa’s administrative capital Pretoria, which will add the extra shift, and at another site in the coastal city of Port Elizabeth.



“The third shift will allow us to ramp up our production from the current 506 vehicles assembled per day to a peak of 720 units to satisfy the strong demand from customers in South Africa, as well as for our crucial exports to 148 markets around the world,” Ockert Berry, vice president of operations for Ford Middle East and Africa said in a statement.



Ford joins a number of other global carmakers in ramping up production on the continent, which promises rapid growth at the same time as trade tensions and upsets like the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union threaten their operations elsewhere.



The South African arm of Japanese carmaker Nissan also announced a similarly sized investment earlier this year, increasing production at its local plant by 30,000 units, while BMW production chief Oliver Zipse said earlier this month that it had moved some production from the UK as a result of Brexit, and that British plants no longer built South African components.



Around a third of Ford’s local production is sold in South Africa and other sub-Saharan African countries, with the rest exported elsewhere.



The additional shift will start in August and will be focused on the New Ranger, Ranger Raptor and Everest models. The locally-built Ranger is ranked as the top-selling pick-up in Europe and leads light commercial vehicle exports.



The plant in Port Elizabeth produces 120,000 diesel engines per year for the Silverton plant, as well as 130,000 units per year for export to North America, China and Europe and 280,000 component sets per year.



($1 = 13.9720 rand)



Reporting by Emma Rumney; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle

South African subsidiary of carmaker Ford plans to add 1,200 jobs

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/courtney-connley/">Courtney Connley</a>



Not every job you hold will be your dream job, but according to bestselling management author and CNBC contributor Suzy Welch, treating any job as a simple means to an end is a mistake.



Not only is it a mistake, Welch tells&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/make-it/" class="">CNBC Make It</a>, but your intentions will be clear to prospective employers — and that could kill your chances in a job interview.



“Would you marry someone who said, ‘You’re OK, but only until someone better comes along?’” she asks. “Obviously no — but that’s exactly what prospective employers hear when you utter the phrase of death in any job interview.”



That phrase? “Stepping stone.”



The first time Welch heard these two words in an interview was when she was a hiring manager looking to add editors to the business magazine she was running. She was hoping to hire a particularly talented candidate, who seemed interested in the job. The interview went well, and Welch says she ended it by asking&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/31/how-to-answer-the-interview-question-where-do-you-see-yourself-in-5-years.html" class="">a classic question</a>, “Where do you see yourself in three years?”



“Probably in communications for a bank,” the candidate replied. “I’d love to transition to that industry, which makes this job such an excellent stepping stone.”



Welch knew immediately that was the end of the road with that candidate, no matter how impressive her talent.



“Don’t get me wrong — I actually admire people who think strategically about their careers,” she says. “After seven years as a crime reporter, I knew I needed an MBA and a few years of consulting before I could legitimately cover business, and I’ve even advised my own kids to work at certain companies just to gain skills.”



But though every job you hold won’t be a lifetime commitment, you can’t move throughout your career “using employers for your own needs.” Doing this, Welch says, will inevitably backfire — even if you don’t use the dreaded phrase “stepping stone,” your strategy will become clear to employers.



And treating your job “as a means to an end” isn’t a particularly satisfying way to live. “It’s beyond strategic. It’s beyond ambition. It’s just kind of mercenary.”



“I’m not only saying, ‘Don’t utter the words ‘stepping stone’ in an interview,’” Welch emphasizes. “I’m saying don’t even think them. Even if you know a job isn’t forever, it’s your professional home while they’re paying you.”



Instead, approach every job opportunity as though it could actually turn out to be your dream job, regardless of how long you plan to be there.



“That’s the only way to make true friends with your colleagues, earn a reputation as a team player and hopefully do something every day that’s bigger than you,” she says. “Maybe you’ll leave someday. Maybe you won’t. But if you do, in time, it will be with integrity — and that’s a step worth taking.”



Suzy Welch is the co-founder of the <a class="" href="http://jwmi.com/?mcv=jdg469">Jack Welch Management Institute</a>and a noted business journalist, TV commentator and public speaker. Think you need Suzy to fix your career? Email her at gettowork@cnbc.com.



This article first appeared on CNBC<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/17/facebook-announces-libra-digital-currency-calibra-digital-wallet.html"> </a><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/17/suzy-welch-2-words-you-should-never-say-in-a-job-interview.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/17/suzy-welch-2-words-you-should-never-say-in-a-job-interview.html</a> and is republished with its permission.

Suzy Welch: 2 words you should never say in a job interview

By <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/michelle-fox/">Michelle Fox</a> 



If you want a more productive employee, give them a paid day off from work every week. 



That’s the philosophy of Andrew Barnes, founder of the New Zealand company Perpetual Garden. He tried the experiment last year, and the results made both Barnes and his employees happy. Now his workers enjoy a permanent four-day work week.



“This is all about working smarter, not working longer,” said Barnes, whose firm manages wills, trusts and estates.



“We have this perception that you’ve got to work five days a week, 9-5. What we are really talking about is changing how people are behaving when they are at the office,” he recently told CNBC’s “The Exchange. ”



In other words, less goofing off and more focusing on work. The idea is that employees give the company 100% productivity. They still get 100% of their salary, but only work 80% of the standard hours.



It’s a success because employees get the perk — and they concentrate more consistently on work during that time than their 9-5 counterparts do, suggests Barns.



Several studies back him up. According to a U.K. study done in 2017 by deals site Vouchercloud, the average employee spends two hours and 53 minutes each day working productively.



Separately, a 2018 survey by the Workforce Institute at Kronos found that more than half of full-time workers thought they could do their job in five hours a day if they didn’t have any interruptions. It polled 3,000 employees across eight nations.



Barnes is hoping other employers learn from his experience. He recently wrote a report that laid out his results and includes recommendations for how to implement a similar program.



However, he said many companies are “scared” to take the chance because they’ve been so conditioned about a five-day work week.



“What we’re saying is that if you engage with your staff, if you give them the opportunity to come up with ideas, if you say to them, ‘look, if you do things differently we will gift you this day off a week,’ what they do is they change how they behave at work,” he said.



“That improves the productivity and that delivers that much higher output, but at the same time gives you all the benefits of work-life balance, [and] a healthier, more loyal, more engaged staff,” he added.



Barnes is not alone in recognizing the benefits of a shorter work week. Last year, the Berlin-based project management company Planio introduced a 4-day work week for its small staff. The ad agency Grey New York, owned by WPP, also launched a program last year that allowed staff to work a four-day week for 85% of their full-time salary.



—Reuters contributed to this report.



This article was first published by CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/23/a-4-day-work-week-results-in-more-loyal-more-engaged-staff.html?forYou=true">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/23/a-4-day-work-week-results-in-more-loyal-more-engaged-staff.html?forYou=true</a> and is republished with its permission.

Forget the 5-day work week—just 4 days results in ‘a healthier, more loyal, more engaged staff’

Press Release provided by Stats SA.
The South African working-age population increased by 153 000 or 0,4% in the third quarter of 2018 compared to the second quarter of 2018. The number of employed persons increased by 92 000 to 16,4 million and the number of unemployed persons rose by 127 000 to 6,2 million in Q3: 2018. The absorption rate remained unchanged at 43,1% and the unemployment rate increased by 0,3 of a percentage point to 27,5% in the same period.
In Q3: 2018, the informal sector recorded employment gains of 188 000, while the Formal sector, Private households and Agriculture recorded declines in employment. The number of discouraged work-seekers declined by 131 000 while the number of other not economically active persons increased by 65 000, resulting in a decrease of 66 000 (down by 0,4%) in the number of people not in the labour force between the second and third quarters of 2018.
Compared to a year ago, employment increased by 1,2% (188 000), unemployment decreased by 1 000 and the number of persons who were not economically active increased by 2,8% (424 000) – 297 000 being discouraged work-seekers.

South Africa’s unemployment rate rises to 27,5% in Q3

<figure><img decoding="async" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240075/original/file-20181010-72121-1cn15os.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="File 20181010 72121 1cn15os.jpg?ixlib=rb 1.1" /><figcaption>A significant number of South Africans can’t find jobs and scrounge for a living on the sidelines of the economy. 
Shutterstock</figcaption></figure>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alan-hirsch-170889">By Alan Hirsch</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-cape-town-691">University of Cape Town</a>
Nearly a week has passed since South Africa’s <a href="http://jobssummit.co.za/">2018 jobs summit</a>. The two-day gathering produced some useful agreements between the social partners: government, organised labour and business (essentially, big business).
This was the fourth jobs summit in 20 years. The frequency of attempts to find a solution to the country’s unemployment problems isn’t surprising given that South Africa has one of the <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-09-03-more-adults-not-working-than-working-in-south-africa/">highest jobless rates</a> in the world. The unemployment rate has increased from under 22% in 2008 to the current rate of <a href="https://ewn.co.za/2018/07/31/sa-unemployment-rate-rises-to-27-2-in-q2">27.2%</a>.
But the record on delivering results has been mixed, to say the least.
The <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/1998-05-29-threats-to-job-summit">first jobs summit</a> in the post 1994 era was held in 1998 when Nelson Mandela’s presidency was nearing its end and amid a developing country debt crisis. It achieved very little. The next one – <a href="http://www.polity.org.za/article/mbeki-growth-and-development-summit-07062003-2003-06-07">the 2003 Growth and Development Summit</a> – achieved significant agreements. But these were poorly monitored and implemented.
Six years later in 2009 social partners agreed on a <a href="https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/10717/">framework</a> to respond to the global financial crisis. In spite of the measures introduced by agreements reached at the gathering, South Africa <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09765239.2014.11884980">lost</a> nearly a million jobs.
Undoubtedly the outcome of the recent summit is positive. Job-saving elements of the 2009 agreement have been revived. There are forward-looking commitments such as finance for the black industrialist scheme and a focus on the export of manufactured products. There are initiatives for small business support, technical training and a mechanism for the absorption of <a href="http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/print-version/jobs-summit-2018-10-04">graduates into the economy</a>.
But perhaps the most important outcome was that a Presidential jobs council will be established to <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_documents/Jobs_Summit_FrameWork_Agreement.pdf">monitor progress</a>.
As welcome as these developments are, the agreement doesn’t explicitly acknowledge that there might be some fundamental issues in the approach to development and job creation in South Africa. In a <a href="http://www.effective-states.org/wp-content/uploads/working_papers/final-pdfs/esid_wp_105_hirsch_levy.pdf">paper just published</a> Brian Levy and I identify what these might be.
We argue that the <a href="http://www.effective-states.org/wp-content/uploads/working_papers/final-pdfs/esid_wp_105_hirsch_levy.pdf">implicit social compact</a> of the 1990s laid a poor foundation for job creating growth in South Africa. Our view is that unless South Africa revisits the implicit and explicit deals struck at that time, the chances of making serious inroads into unemployment are remote.
But is South Africa in the kind of crisis as Mauritius was in 1968 and Ireland in 1988, where key social players were forced to review the social compact and work together towards a coherent developmental model? And do the social partners have strong enough leaders to arrive at suitable agreements?
These are the questions excitingly raised by the outcome of jobs summit, and should, in our view, be the preoccupation of the President’s jobs council.
<h2>The 1990s compact</h2>
An elite bargain over the country’s economic framework formed an essential part of the foundation for a democratic South Africa. The context of the bargaining process included the capitulation of the communist block, economic stagnation in most African countries, and a relentless campaign by the white South African business community for government not to intervene in the economic framework.
There was the threat of flight of capital and white citizens who were virtually monopoly owners of wealth and key economic skills and networks. What emerged was an apparently strong commitment to market-opening reforms.
The result is well known. The economic policies emphasised what was then called “getting the prices right and what we call &#8220;disciplining reforms”. This included: trade and financial liberalisation, fiscal restraint, tougher competition laws and a conservative mandate for the central bank.
Conversely, policies lacked on the side of interventionist mechanisms that were effective in some more successful developing countries. These included support for industrial innovation, cluster development and industrial policy which would have encouraged domestic investment in job creating growth.
Policy choices weren’t the only problem. Key players in the economy were pursuing new agendas as their options had broadened with the end of South Africa’s economic isolation and the repression of apartheid.
<a href="https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/3350068/aghion_southafrica.pdf?sequence=2">South African corporations</a> were focused on narrowing their South African operations and spreading their activities and assets abroad. While they cast off some non-core assets, the corporations remain extraordinarily powerful.
At the same time, the trade unions used their bargaining power with government to strengthen worker rights. All labour laws had to go through the newly formed National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) and could not go through until all parties were happy. The result was that big business, which always dominated the business delegation, agreed to labour laws that they could manage with their sophisticated human resource departments and because of the choices they could exercise. However, these laws were not all easy to implement for small and medium companies.
In addition, the reformed industrial training system was poorly designed which set back industrial training for many years.
The market opening reforms combined with the labour reforms achieved very little in the way of supporting dynamic investment and innovation. So, the elite pact that emerged reflected what powerful stakeholders were prepared to agree too – not a coherent package derived from carefully thought out trade-offs.
Compared with outcomes of more successful social pacts like Mauritius in the late 1960s and Ireland in the late 1980s, South Africa’s social compact failed. And over time commitment to the elements of the compact waned.
<h2>In a different world</h2>
In a different world, perhaps, had South African elites agreed on a clear developmental model and had they strived for suitable strategies, the outcome might have been very different. There would have been a much stronger emphasis on the more interventionist kinds of supportive industrial policies.
It’s not too late. More recently, industrial policy has formed part of the approach of government as seen in major initiatives in several sectors.
Informed analysts in South Africa are now asking “Where is growth going to come from?” Skilled people are streaming out the country as they did in Mauritius in the 1960s and in Ireland in the 1980s. Could it be that this is the moment for a coherent, developmental social compact?<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/104591/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alan-hirsch-170889">Alan Hirsch</a>, Professor and Director of The Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-cape-town-691">University of Cape Town</a>
This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-wont-create-jobs-unless-it-settles-on-a-new-social-compact-104591">original article</a>.

What South Africa needs to do to create jobs

By Genevieve Jozaffe-Naidoo, Training Management and Organisational Development (TMOD) Manager
Care is a verb at Continental Tyre South Africa, which is why the company has consistently been named a Top Employer in South Africa.
It is critical for all employees to know and understand how wealth is created and distributed within the organisation.
Equally, every employee needs to appreciate their individual contribution towards common goals. To this end, our leadership team has established line-of-sight for each employee. 
Growth and profitability can only be achieved through shared purpose and values (Trust, Passion to Win, For One Another and Freedom to Act), coupled with employees’ talents, motivation and willingness to learn.
Our values unify how we engage and challenge our actions, results, successes and opportunities. Trust and transparency talk to just some of the lived values of our leadership team – sacrificing short-term gains for long-term growth. The leadership team have committed their time, efforts and minds being of service down the line to create “one Continental”.
Over the past few years, there has been significant investment in building our people capability. Hosting development programmes aimed at enhancing critical skills was just one of the interventions we undertook.
2018 has certainly challenged our business. This year – in the spirit of building capability – business sustainability and humanising the scoreboard has been our priority. Political and economic uncertainty, both locally and globally, has created added pressure to deliver affordable, quality products consistently. These challenges have brought us full circle to our values.
Our people have responded well to these challenging times. Dialogues and joint action planning define our culture, with various platforms accommodating multi-faceted conversations. We are motivated to change our lived experiences by creating alliance and value, striving always to be an attractive and progressive employer.
Participating in the Top Employer awards has been of tremendous use in raising our awareness on policy, process and practice. Additionally, it has added value to our brand. Continental Tyre South Africa’s 70-year presence in South Africa is evidence of our leadership and learning agility. Our organisation is fully geared toward shaping our future in motion.
OUR PEOPLE, OUR CULTURE, OUR FUTURE.
&nbsp;
Content supplied by Continental Tyre South Africa

How Continental Tyre’s values are creating value

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Travel and Hospitality Sector is expected to provide 1.5 million jobs in Kenya, representing 8.5 per cent of total employment. In its annual report, online travel agency Jumia Travel, revealed the technology trends shaping the sector and the outlook of sector. To break down the findings of the report CNBC Africa is joined by Estelle Verdier, COO of Jumia Travel.

Travel & Hospitality Sector to provide 1.5 million jobs in Kenya

<div id="attachment_307159" style="width: 2058px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-307159" class="wp-image-307159 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Senegal-Gettingfish_Wikimedia-commons.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1536" />Fish market in Senegal. Photo: Wikimedia Commons</div>
After spending 10 years working as a Private Equity investor in the United States at HarvourVest Partners and the Middle-East at the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), Issam Cheuh is convinced that fintech is the next big thing in financial services in Francophone Africa.
In 2014, 2015 and 2016, Forbes Magazine listed Chleuh as one of Africa’s 30 most promising young entrepreneurs. After his intervention at the 2018 MIT Africa Innovate Conference 2018 “Digitization for Inclusive Growth”, Chleuh shared with us in an interview the reason his team is so bullish on fintech.
By Issam Chleuh
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a crucial role in Francophone Africa, accounting for around 50% of jobs created (source: <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2016/11/30/new-evidence-shows-way-forward-for-sme-growth-and-job-creation">World Bank</a>).
Francophone Africa is the youngest and fastest-growing sub-region in the world, with Mali and Senegal median age at 16 and 18, respectively. By 2030, there will be 375 million young people looking for jobs in Africa, exceeding the rest of the world combined. (source: <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-28/africa-s-labor-force-newcomers-to-exceed-world-by-2035-imf-says">IMF</a>); Most of these job seekers will come from Francophone Africa.
A significant gap between the number of young people seeking work and the limited employment opportunities available to them means that they will face challenges finding formal employment and a pathway out of poverty. Boosting SME productivity and growth in the region could result automatically into more employment, higher earnings and a solution to the increasing concern about instability, population pressure, migration and chronic food insecurity in West Africa.
<h4>Numerous challenges for SMEs in Francophone Africa</h4>
Unfortunately, SMEs still face a number of challenges in Francophone Africa.  The biggest roadblock facing SMEs in the region is access to finance. Without capital, SMEs cannot grow. Without growth, SMEs cannot tackle unemployment properly.
The banking penetration rates in Francophone African countries are among the lowest in the world, particularly in the CFA franc monetary zone. According to the Bank of France, the proportion of adults that have a bank account with a formal institution is only 12.6%. This is considerably lower than the rest of Africa, where around 30% of adults have access to bank accounts (World Bank).
Francophone Africa is lagging behind Anglophone Africa. This is a fact. Francophone Africa accounts for only 19% of sub-Saharan Africa’s average GDP while Anglophone Africa (excluding <a href="https://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/category/countries/south-africa/">South Africa</a>) accounts for 47%. When we look at the World Bank’s Doing Business report, the English countries always rank more favorably than the French ones: it is easier to start a business or obtain payment from debtors, for instance.
Moreover, Francophone African countries are lagging behind in terms of basic banking infrastructure and points of access to banking services (low density of ATMs, not enough branches).  The banking system in the region is made up of constrained banks that focus primarily on deposits. This can be explained by the small size of national markets, a lack of financial literacy, low-income levels, political instability and weak judicial systems.
<h4>Riskier and costlier to do business in the region</h4>
Since the business environment is less healthy, it becomes riskier and costlier to engage in business transactions in the region. This in turns will raise the cost of borrowing and less SMEs would be able to access financing. A cost of borrowing could impact considerably SMEs bottom lines and impair their growth. It is a vicious circle. We need to crack access to financing at the Missing Middle level.
Globally, the FinTech market is projected to grow at 25% from $3,300 billion to 5,082 billion in 2019 (Fintrek, 2017). This boom in fintech emerged from a significant gap globally in the traditional banking and financial services infrastructure.
Africa has shown numerous times it can leapfrog its way out of lack of infrastructure and pioneer disruptive innovations. One of the major challenges facing the entrepreneurs and SMEs in francophone Africa is lack of capital. Bank credit accounts for only 10% of total MSME financing in francophone Africa, with most of the financing coming from informal sources.
When we look at this low rate of financial inclusion in the region fintech emerges as the obvious solutions to this challenge. Prior to the infiltration, diffusion, and widespread adoption of ICT and mobile phone technology in Africa, the success of fintech was inconceivable due to the continent’s lack of communication infrastructure.
<h4>Africa jumped various steps in the development curve</h4>
The penetration of ICT, technology and mobile phones on the continent offered Africa’s countries opportunities to jump various steps in the development curve. Africa is already circumventing traditional means with technologies such as wireless and mobile technologies that require lower physical infrastructure and investments.
In the absence of landline-based infrastructure, Africa has leapfrogged what was considered the traditional standard evolutionary adoption path of telecommunication technology: the mobile phone. In the absence of enough bank branches and ATMs, Africa has leapfrogged traditional banking to pioneering mobile banking globally.
Additional infrastructure gaps in the Banking sector still persists and hinders the growth of the industry. These infrastructure gaps include the lack of credit history, weak legal system and low financial literacy, among others. Mobile money has been able to address the lack of banking branches and ATMs. Fintech solutions are cracking solutions to the other issues facing, including lack of collateral.
But much of the growth is being driven not by banks but by fintech firms. Old-fashioned “factoring” to turn invoices into cash was time-consuming, laden with paperwork and an expensive form of credit—the resort to which was sometimes seen as a sign of financial stress.
Fintech firms offer new technologies that make early payments possible at the click of a button. They can quickly set suppliers up on their platform. Banks’ early-payment programmes have also typically been reserved for the largest suppliers. But fintechs have made supply-chain finance available to the tiddlers, too.  The market was also ripe for innovation in other ways. Globalisation has made supply chains longer and more complex.
Issam Chleuh is the 31-year-old Malian cofounder and Managing Director of the Suguba, a West Africa-focused platform providing access to capacity building and access to financial services for entrepreneurs, start-ups and SMEs led by youth and women.

Op-Ed: Why Fintech is vital for SMEs in Francophone Africa

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However, with access to finance remaining a key constraint to SME growth how vital is innovation to the survival of Africa&#8217;s SME&#8217;s? Lance Mambondiani, CEO of Steward Bank limited Zimbabwe joins CNBC Africa for more insight.

Innovation vital for SMEs’ survival in Africa – CEO Steward Bank

By: Statistics South Africa
The results of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the third quarter of 2017 released by Statistics South Africa today, indicate that employment grew by 92 000 in Q3:2017, however this was offset by an additional 33 000 job-seekers during the same period, resulting in a stable unemployment rate of 27,7%.
<div id="attachment_21569" style="width: 535px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-21569" class="wp-image-21569 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/welding__manufacturing.jpg" alt="Manufacturing key to alleviating unemployment" width="525" height="350" />South Africa&#8217;s employment grew by 92 000 in quarter three of 2017.</div>
The growth in employment was mainly driven by Finance and other business services industry which grew by 68 000, followed by Community, social and personal services (56 000) and Transport (34 000). All other industries reported employment growth quarter-to-quarter except Manufacturing, Construction and Agriculture which declined by 50 000, 30 000 and 25 000 respectively.
The official unemployment rate remained unchanged quarter-to-quarter at 27,7%, however this is still 0,6 of a percentage point higher compared to the same period last year. The largest decline in the unemployment rate was recorded in Free State (down by 2,6 percentage points), Limpopo (down by 1,7 percentage points) and Mpumalanga (down by 1,6 percentage points).
The expanded unemployment rate which includes those who wanted to work but did not look for work increased by 0,2 of a percentage point in Q3: 2017 to 36,8%.
The less educated are more likely to be unemployed. Those with education level of less than matric contribute 57,4% of the unemployed with unemployment rate of 32,6%.
The youth (aged 15-34) remain vulnerable in the labour market.  Youth (15-34 years) unemployment rate was 38,6% which is 10,9 percentage points above the national average. However, youth unemployment rate registered a decline of 0,6 of a percentage point quarter-to-quarter. Of the 10,3 million young persons aged 15-24 years, about 30% were not in employment, education or training.

Quarterly Labour Force Survey – SA employment grew by 92 000 in Q3

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Babs Ogundeyi, founder of kudimoney.com joins CNBC Africa to discuss the role that tech start-ups could play in Nigeria’s economy.

Tech start-ups to play crucial role in Nigeria’s growth story – Expert

Seth Trudeau and Keno Omu | African Leadership University
Across Africa, students arrive on campuses full of hope that a university degree will improve their lives. The reality is far less certain.
In 2014, a British Council study estimated Nigeria’s graduate unemployment at 23.1%. In Kenya, it takes an average of five years for a graduate to find a job. Yet business leaders frequently say there are jobs – just a lack of skilled talent to do them. How can this be?
There are two commonly cited explanations. The first is that financial, human capital and infrastructure constraints have a negative impact on the range and quality of skills students graduate with. The second is the disconnect between what universities teach and the skills needed in the market.
However, another more fundamental explanation has to do with howstudents are educated, irrespective of what they study or the resource constraints they face. How students learn matters to employers because it shapes how they think and what they do at work.
A growing number of employers are no longer looking for graduates with the most impressive degree certificates. In fact, trailblazers like Ernst &amp; Young have removed degree classifications from their entry requirements because they do not believe that academic success is always a sign of professional success.
<h2>A new kind of graduate</h2>
Employers are now looking for graduates who can think for themselves, integrate into fast-paced work environments, learn new ways of working and develop creative solutions to real problems. These abilities depend more on how they were taught than what they learned.
We are at a unique moment in the history of education. Information was once scarce but is now everywhere. In the last 15 years, we have also made a giant leap forward in our understanding of how the brain works and how people learn. These developments have radically altered the way we think about higher education.
In the traditional university model, “learning” meant access to information and knowledge, education resources and teaching expertise. Today, technology has made it easier for anyone to get information, knowledge and learning resources.
The advantage retained by the traditional university is in producing and organising knowledge. But academic researchers form a very small percentage of the knowledge workers needed in the information age.
<h2>Time to revisit old models</h2>
Universities need to rethink their approach to learning if they are to produce people with the critical thinking, leadership, collaboration and problem solving skills needed for modern life.
Learning in many African universities still happens in large lecture halls and rewards the ability to remember and repeat information. Researchers such as Nobel Prize winning physicist Carl Wieman have shown that this is one of the least effective  ways of learning.
Effective learning takes three things. First, students must be able to reflect on what they are learning. Reflection helps students assess what they know and what they don’t. It also helps them to integrate new ideas and concepts into their body of knowledge. When students reflect, they strengthen the neural pathways in their brain, and build new pathways that link information that was previously not associated. These links enable critical thinking.
Second, true learning happens when students stop being passive recipients of information and become active experimenters. When students take an active part, they take responsibility for the results and ensure that learning is relevant to them. They develop habits that help them learn later in life, such as self-regulation, motivation and curiosity.
Third, learning happens when students apply new concepts or skills. This is the most natural test for a student’s comprehension of what they are studying. Doing something, receiving feedback about it, refining the approach and then doing it again also builds neural pathways for retrieval and association.
Universities are the planning stage for a society’s aspirations. African universities must begin to produce employable leaders who will meet the challenges that are hindering the continent’s progress. To produce graduates with the appropriate skills and ways of thinking, they will have to change the way they see, design and assess learning.

Op-Ed: Are graduates prepared for the job market? Rethinking Africa’s university model

Cathie Webb |South African Payroll Association
Whenever a worker is retrenched in South Africa, it’s not just one person losing an income. That’s because employees in this country have a high number of dependents. For example, according to the South African Police Union, each 10111 call centre operator supports about 15 dependents. The statistics are probably similar for other industries. That’s why, before any organisation chooses retrenchments, they should do their best to find another way.
Alternatives to retrenchment
Here are some things businesses might consider, bearing in mind that changes in terms of service require their employee’s consent.
<ul>
<li>Reduction in work 
Rather than lose their jobs, employees may be open to working shorter weeks, fewer hours &#8211; like half days &#8211; or shorter shifts. This means they’ll have some form of income to tide them over, and it frees them up to look for a second job or even another position, making retrenchment unnecessary.</li>
<li>Reduced pay 
A small reduction in pay across the entire workforce won’t be as hard felt as losing one’s job altogether. Yes, it’s easier to retrench than renegotiate contracts throughout the company. But many have done it successfully. Conversely, freeze increases until the organisation’s fortunes recover.</li>
<li>Voluntary retrenchment 
Some workers are more desperate to keep their jobs than others, who may have been looking for a reason to move on. Voluntary retrenchment is also a good way of reinvigorating the workforce because those who are no longer aligned with the company’s mission or values are more likely to take the opportunity to leave.</li>
<li>Reduced benefits 
Although some benefits are required by law, others can often become bloated beyond their value in keeping workers happy and motivated. Reducing benefits gives a business the chance to rationalise their expenditure and, in tough times, employees are more likely to appreciate that necessity.</li>
<li>Redeployment 
This means either moving willing employees to other departments where their abilities are needed or training them to take on new duties, sometimes completely different to what they were doing in the past. Change is difficult but many workers are keen to extend their skills.</li>
<li>Eliminate overtime 
Workers are often paid overtime for working after hours or weekends. This need should drop with an ebb in business and companies can safely cancel overtime. However, employment contracts usually require staff to work after hours from time to time without pay, so some extra hours could fall under this clause.</li>
<li>Freeze new hires 
Rather than reducing the existing workforce, organisations can stop hiring new people. This isn’t always possible because new skills may be required to manage or execute new systems and processes. Again, employers should prefer to upskill current staff.</li>
<li>Increased duties 
If a business has enough work but can’t fund the required workforce, the extra duties could be shared by current employees. It’s essential that employers alert them that this is an alternative to retrenchment and that their efforts are appreciated.</li>
<li>Placement assistance programmes 
Once, business journals lauded companies who helped place employees in new jobs as part of their retrenchment process. Does it still happen? Really, it should. Businesses have large customer, supplier and recruiter databases, as well as strong business networks. All it takes is a bulk email or a LinkedIn post to exponentially increase each retrenched worker’s opportunities.</li>
</ul>
A note to employees
There are many ways organisations can avoid retrenchment. That said, new technologies and improved business processes can also lead to positions being made redundant. Skills that were common 5 or 10 years ago may simply no longer be needed in the modern business environment. So, there’s another angle to consider &#8211; workers can avoid retrenchment by retraining themselves for jobs that are currently in demand.
The unemployment rate in South Africa is one of the highest in the world and, with our current recession, it may get worse. At SAPA, we’re reaching out to employers to not just follow the law but to do their utmost to avoid retrenchments. Sometimes, there’s no other way. But if it’s an excuse to cut costs or improve shareholders’ dividends, this isn’t the right time for such thinking. So please, approach retrenchment responsibly. With the high number of dependents each employee must support, it’s not just one person who will go without.

What companies should consider before retrenchment

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South Africa Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba said government cannot give free bailouts to state owned companies; and called for good corporate governance to improve performance of SOEs.

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