South Africa’s employment swings from Full-time employment to Part-time

12 Apr 2022

South Africa’s employment swings from Full-time to Part-time

Statistics South Africa’s Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) report for December 2021, released in March 2022, shows a trade-off” between part-time and full-time employment in South Africa in 2021.

The QES report for the last quarter of 2021 in South Africa was released on 31 March 2022. It showed that total employment increased due to increases in the following industry sectors:

  • trade,
  • community services and

Although total employment increased by only 62 000, or 0.6%, between the third and fourth quarters of 2021, it increased by 154 000, or 1.6%, year-on-year between December 2020 and December 2021.

However, according to the report, a decrease in employment was seen in the following five sectors between Q3 and Q4 2021:

  • construction,
  • transport,
  • business services,
  • mining and
  • electricity

A decrease of 12,000 full-time jobs (-0.1%) was also seen over the same period, covering two sectors in addition to the five mentioned above, namely manufacturing and community services.

This confirms that the increase occurred only in part-time employment: 106 000 or (10.0%) between the third and fourth quarters and in most of the above sectors, suggesting a “trade-off” between part-time and full-time employment in South Africa in 2021. This could be partly due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic health crisis on South Africa’s economy.

Some other interesting findings from Statistics South Africa’s Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) report that are worth mentioning are:

– Basic salaries increased by 6.9% between the third and fourth quarters.

– Employee bonuses increased by 75.5% between the third and fourth quarters.

– The average monthly salary increased by 0.3% between the third and fourth quarters.

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