Data from the Pnet Jobs Market Trends February 2024 has revealed the top five trending jobs in South Africa.
The report has been created to provide insights into online labour market trends in South Africa.
According to the report, retail (sales) jobs are the most in-demand, followed by jobs in credit management (finance) while accounts payable/receivable (finance) jobs are in the third spot.
Bookkeeping (finance) jobs are the fourth most in-demand jobs and representative/sales consulting (sales) jobs rounds out the top five most in-demand jobs.
The list of the top five jobs was created after analysing hiring activity for January 2024 which showed that there has been increased demand for these workers and professionals.
From January 2022 to January 2024 there was a 4% drop in recruitment activity. From January 2023 to January 2024, hiring activity decreased by 8%.
January 2024 showed low hiring activity for this time of the year which can be partly attributed to the long school holiday period. School holidays have a significant impact on economic activity and productivity, as many people in the country take leave during school holidays.
The first day of school of 2024 was January 17. This meant that January 2024 had significantly less working days which had an immediate impact on hiring and economic activity.
The following top trending sectors showed year-on-year growth: cleaning, maintenance and repair; building and construction; and finally, architecture and engineering.
Year-on-year, cleaning, maintenance and repair sector showed a 20% increase in hiring activity. According to the report, this sector has seen stable hiring activity over the past 13 months and since Q42023 there has been elevated hiring activity.
In the building and construction sector, there was a 23% increase in hiring activity year-on-year. While there was decreased hiring activity over the last two months, there was growing recruitment activity throughout most of 2023.
For the architecture and engineering sector year-on-year, there was a 17% increase in hiring activity. Like the building and construction sector, this sector also had a dip in hiring activity over the last two months, however, hiring activity remained steady in 2023.
The report also shone a spotlight on the latest job market trends in three provinces, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Gauteng.
For Gauteng, the five jobs that are in-demand include jobs in finance; business and management; IT; sales; and admin, office and support.
Over the last 12 months, in Gauteng there was significant growth in hiring activity in the building and construction sector. Despite a dip in recruitment activity towards the end of 2023, year-on-year hiring activity in the building and construction was up by 35%.
For the Limpopo province, there was a in demand professionals in business and management; finance; and admin, office and support.
In Limpopo, there was a continuous demand for business and management staff for most of 2023. As a result, staff in this sector has increased by 97% year-on-year.
There has been consistent growth in hiring activity for finance professionals since September 2023 in Limpopo. Year-on-year, demand for finance professionals has grown by 97% in this province.
In Mpumalanga, there has been demand for jobs in business and management; admin, office and support; finance; and sales.
Mpumalanga experienced an uptake in hiring activity for manufacturing and assembly professionals in Q32023. Year-on-year, demand for manufacturing and assembly professionals has increased by 6%.
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