Last year, I wrote a column about this topic focusing on youth unemployment. I’m tackling this topic again, and I’ve decided to look at SA’s unemployment situation. Yes, the youth – our future leaders are feeling the pain of not being able to find jobs more than anyone else, but what I’ve noticed is that the situation has worsened for all ages since COVID.
Looking at the stats – at the end of this March, Daily Maverick reported that the unemployment rate in SA has maintained its dismal ascent, climbing to 35,3% in the fourth quarter of 2021 from 34,9% in the third quarter. This was the highest level since the Quarterly Labour Force Survey in 2008. It was also reported that the recovery that saw the economy grow by 4,9% in 2021 had been a jobless one. The youth unemployment rate remains at a staggering 65,5%.
Yes, I agree that COVID has played its part in destroying global economies – I followed the news about the stats and stories of how many highly qualified and experienced people have lost their jobs, therefore, livelihoods. But I’m only now realising the desperation for jobs out there. Even though I’m running my own business – I still get the job notifications from LinkedIn, and I share these with people I know that are actively looking. What I realised about these LinkedIn notifications is that you can see how many people have applied already for every job that’s advertised.
The sad reality is that when a job is advertised, these are primarily senior PR jobs looking for candidates with 10 years or more of experience. I’m telling you that within 30 minutes to an hour of posting the advert – over 400 people would have applied for the same job. It dawned on me that the quarterly stats did not indicate the desperation, but the number of people applying for one job did. Things are far worse than the years when I started my career. I used to think that things were bad when I applied and had to compete with about 20 suitably qualified people for jobs at SAICA, Absa and MTN, but that was nothing. Then, my chances were 1 out of 20, and now it’s 1 out of 400/500 for anyone applying for a job these days. It’s almost like the algorithm used to calculate our chances of winning the lotto, which is almost next to none.
We all know that no HR department will go through 400 CVs to find the person they want. When there’s so much desperation, even people who don’t have the required experience or qualifications will take their chances and apply. That is the administrative burden that HR people have to bear – sifting through all the CVs that don’t make the cut. The amount of desperation is clear if a person can apply for a job where 399 people have already applied. It’s clear that people still feel that they should try their luck, so they put their CVs in and pray for the best. Because of these staggering numbers, It’s highly possible that excellent CVs of people who match the requirements of the advertised jobs do not get to be seen by HR people. At most, HR probably looks at the first 20 CVs received and then shortlist their best five candidates from there.
So, it seems like it has become a first-come, first-serve kind of situation – the sooner you send in your CV, the better your chances. However, when applying for these jobs – you also need to remember that you are now competing with many highly qualified people who have the experience required for these advertised vacancies. So, my question is: if highly qualified and experienced people are struggling to find jobs to replace the ones they lost – then how much more for young graduates with no experience whatsoever?
I came across posts on a PR Facebook page of youth looking for in-service training/internships for the past few years. They are now feeling so despondent and are even saying that they think our profession is useless because they have not been able to find opportunities with this qualification. This is a clear indication that the situation has become dire for everyone. My advice to young PR/Journalism hopefuls looking for experience through internships is to consider volunteering at community radio stations, local newspapers or even NGOs because these kinds of institutions are always looking for another pair of hands to assist. They have to be willing to take the pain of working without pay so that at least they can gain some experience because without experience – I’m afraid their chances of getting jobs are zero to none. Others should consider starting their own businesses because from the stats it’s quite clear that our economy doesn’t have enough jobs to cater to the number of desperate job seekers of all ages.
Miranda Lusiba is the Founding Director of Strangé Consulting – a boutique PR Agency specialising in Communications, Freelance Writing, Media Relations, Reputation Management and Media Training.
