SA job crisis to worsen in 2017
The construction industry and agriculture were the worst hit by job losses in the second quarter, as mining suffers too
The unemployment crisis is expected to worsen in the third quarter as more companies have issued section 189 notices to employees, according to labour federation Cosatu. This comes as the Quarterly Labour Force Survey showed on Monday that the dire unemployment rate remained high at 27.7% in the second quarter. Employers issue section 189 notices as a formal signal of impending retrenchments. According to the survey, released by Statistics SA, employment figures fell and the number of jobseekers declined 37,000 to about 6.2-million, resulting in an unchanged unemployment rate. Commenting on the jobs situation, Cosatu spokesman Sizwe Pamla said on Monday: “Eighteen months ago, it was a crisis, it is still a crisis and it’s worsening. “When you consider the fact that over the last six months, we’ve seen more section 189 applications, it’s clear the third quarter is going to be worse.” Last week, Pick n Pay, which has cut 3 500 jobs, said it would embark on a second round of retrenchme...
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