The latest Simplify.hr Job Trends Report for the month of August shows positive signs as the economy slowly starts to open up with the lifting of the lockdown restrictions.

The latest Simplify.hr Job Trends Report for the month of August shows positive signs as the economy slowly starts to open up with the lifting of the lockdown restrictions. Simplify.hr, the talent attraction and management service provider that includes Careers24.com, analyses all online job listings to gauge the state of the South African jobs market.

August saw a 7% increase in the number of jobs advertised online compared with July, with all sectors seeing some growth. The standout growth sectors were a 175% rise in jobs for the social and civil services sector, hospitality - the most affected sector due to the extended lockdown, seeing a 42% rise in jobs advertised and an 18% rise in jobs for customer service and support jobs. The most in-demand sectors for jobs for August were in the Finance, IT & Telecoms and Engineering sectors.

On a sobering note, job stock volumes for August were 30% below the same period last year. Industries that have been hardest hit are Hospitality and catering which is 62% down year on year, Leisure and Tourism down 63% and Retail which is down 37% year on year. The only sector that saw year on year growth was the Health sector, driven by the ongoing need to respond to the current pandemic. Logistics and Distribution, while not seeing yearly growth has shown some resilience compared with the rest of the market, driven primarily by the growing e-commerce shopping trends.

Marc Privett, the General Manager of Simplify.hr and Careers24.com says “The opening up of the economy as the government has lifted trade restrictions has seen some positive signs for the job market, but the reality of the dire situation of our economy is plain to see in the lack of opportunities for candidates. The rising unemployment rate has seen significant increases in traffic to our jobs portal Careers24.com, but the lack of opportunities remains a huge concern. For those companies who are hiring, we are seeing a rise in both the quantity and quality of candidates applying for positions.”

Simplify.hr helps companies find top talent through Careers24.com, one of South Africa’s leading job boards, as well as effectively manage their recruitment efforts from planning, to sourcing all the way to onboarding through the Simplify.hr recruitment management platform to make more effective hires, faster.

Simplify.hr is a proud member of the Media24 family, so we are South African first. Leveraging the power of online platforms to uplift audiences is in our DNA.