Many employers in South Africa may try to get their workers back to the office, but several sectors are still making news.
According to Pnet’s latest jobs markets report for August 2024, year-on-year demand for remote staff has slowed down.
That said, recruitment for IT professionals has increased by 16% over the last three months (May, June, and July 2024) compared to the previous three months (February, March, and April 2024).
The top in-demand professionals for remote positions can be found in the following sectors:
Although many businesses are fighting to get their employees back to the office, it is becoming clearer that work-from-home and remote work is set to stay in South Africa.
According to Michael Page’s latest Talent Trends report for 2024, employers are increasingly admitting that flexible work and work-from-home arrangements are core to what employees want from their jobs.
The survey noted that 53% of respondents will be actively job-seeking in the next six months.
Although one-third said they are seeking a new role for a higher salary, work-life balance and flexible working hours are also crucial factors when deciding on new roles.
In the 2023 survey, only 20% of employers saw hybrid/flexible working arrangements and flexible working hours as essential recruitment requirements. By 2024, this pushed up to almost 30%, showing that bosses realise how serious workers are.
Many companies are also changing their offices to bring their employees back to the office.
“We’ve all seen the headlines about employees overseas threatening to quit or being willing to forego any promotions rather than being forced to return to full-time onsite work,” said Chaim Bronstein, head of the commercial department at Firzt Realty.
“However, the reality in South Africa is that very few corporate employees can afford to do that, so what they are generally doing instead is negotiating more favourable working hours or conditions.”
“Many are now working on a ‘hybrid’ schedule, for example, which allows them to divide their work-week between the office and home.”
“Others are working onsite in the mornings and remotely in the afternoons. Many employers are persuading them to implement physical changes to make onsite work more attractive.
Local hiring
Returning to Pnet’s study, overall local hiring activity increased by 8% from June to July 2024, highlighting a positive upward trend.
Year-on-year hiring activity also increased by 4% compared to July 2023.
The two-year comparison trend reveals that recruitment activity also jumped by 6% compared to July 2022.
Looking at last month’s hiring activity, there was increasing demand for workers and professionals in the following roles:
- Nursing / Professional Caregiving (Medical and Health)
- Executive Management/Director (Business and Management)
- Quality Control (Manufacturing and Assembly)
- Building Project Management (Building and Construction)
Pnet said that accounting skills remain top in demand.
Sector-specific hiring activity trends also provide valuable insights into the local job market and the South African economy.
Stable and increasing recruitment activity indicates confidence in the local economy and business growth.
The Architecture and engineering sector showed significant hiring uptake in July, with year-on-year hiring activity increasing by 9%.
Manufacturing & Assembly also saw a 6% year-on-year improvement in hiring activity in July.
Pnet examined the most in-demand remote work professions and the top in-demand professionals from international companies.
Year-on-year, there was a significant increase in international recruitment for IT professionals (+49%)
as well as Finance (+30%) and Business & Management (+19%) professionals.
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