The pandemic has seen increased retrenchment of members of the workforce across the globe. But in South Africa, where our unemployment rate has consistently been among the highest in the world for decades, combatting post-pandemic unemployment is more urgent than ever.
In the third quarter of 2021, unemployment in South Africa stood at an astounding 34.9%- the highest rate since the launch of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey in 2008.
Since the unemployment rate is so high, a vicious cycle develops as it becomes increasingly difficult to absorb 34.9% of the population into the South African workforce. And as decent-paying jobs are few and far between, members of the workforce are often forced to accept jobs that offer less-than-adequate remuneration. They are driven to accept jobs that pay less than minimum wage- currently R21.69 per hour (approximately R3500 per month). So as South Africans become increasingly desperate to find jobs, the reservation wage in South Africa declines, leading to a mismatch between skill, salary and experience.
While minimum wage is being raised to R23.19 per hour- effective from the 1st March 2022- it is worthwhile for job seekers to understand the risks attached to accepting a job unrepresentative of their skills and experience.
Research done in 2016 by sociologist David Pedulla at The University of Texas, Austin showed that accepting a job below one’s skill level can adversely affect the employee when looking for employment in the future. The study involved submitting thousands of made-up resumes to real job openings and found that only 5% of the applicants working below their skill level received a positive response from the potential employer, while about 50% of the applicants working at their appropriate skill level received these positive responses. Unsurprisingly, when employees see a candidate working below their skill or experience level, they are prone to see them as incompetent or unambitious.
In a South African context though, inactive members of the workforce have been relying on family funds and government grants. However, post-pandemic, they may not have this opportunity anymore as Covid-19, in many cases, impaired the ability of families to support each other financially. In this case, it might be an acceptable temporary solution for job seekers to accept jobs that pay below minimum wage, or below their skill level. In the meantime, job seekers can effectively upskill themselves, and continue to look for better employment, since studies have shown that one is more likely to find new employment while currently employed, as opposed to unemployed.
From an employer’s perspective, it is worthwhile investing in training up the lower-level employees, upskilling them so that they can move up in the company and find positions that better match their skills and experience.
Additionally, looking into talent matching services to place job seekers in suitable positions as well as making use of professional response handling services to outsource recruitment, would be worthwhile. This would enable accurate placements to be made so that a good match is found between job seeker and employer.
Having Simplis HR as a resource in your organization will help maintain the balance between the employees’ interests and the company. We are a people-centric HR team that upholds ethical and legal standards and treats employees or executives respectfully and fairly.
To learn more about us and our HR packages, visit https://simplishr.co.za/ to request a quote.
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