Bad news for job seekers says latest careers report

Unsurprisingly, one of the country’s latest career reports shows that recruitment has fallen and those on the lookout for new jobs has increased.

The result of the economic restrictions, due to the nationwide lockdown on the South African labour market, according to the CareerJunction Index’s latest Executive Summary report.

The May report, powered by comprehensive data gathered from the Career-Junction website, showcases a picture of South Africa’s labour market dynamics by outlining the supply and demand within the online job market.

Positions showing increased demand

Whilst recruitmentactivity may be lower than previous years, the report shows the following positions have increased in demand during May:

• nursing/professional care giving
• executive management/director
• data analysis/data warehousing.

Skills that recruiters are looking for

Interestingly, according to the report, the skill-sets that recruiters are increasingly looking for include software development, middle management and sales consulting.

Sectors showing demand

When looking at the supply and demand within the employment sectors, it should be noted job seekers and recruiters are supplying and demanding skills within similar sectors. These sectors are:

• information technology
• business and management
• finance sectors
• sales
• admin, office and support.

However, according to the report, there are more job seekers than recruiters in the online market, meaning that the environment is a highly competitive one for those who want to be employed.

Job market scores

Overall as a result of the economic restrictions, the CJI determines that the current job market scores 87 on the CJI index.

Because the score is below 100, it means that there is increased competition within the online job market for job seekers,as well as less job opportunities for them.

A score over 100 indicates a healthier market for job seekers, with the demand for employment outweighing the supply.

The CareerJunction Index (CJI) Executive Summary report is available for download here.  It is published every month.