{"id":3217,"date":"2014-09-17T11:24:25","date_gmt":"2014-09-17T09:24:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beta2.statssa.gov.za\/?p=3217"},"modified":"2014-09-17T11:59:59","modified_gmt":"2014-09-17T09:59:59","slug":"the-south-african-workforce-shifts-towards-skilled-jobs-but-patterns-still-differ-between-race-groups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.statssa.gov.za\/?p=3217","title":{"rendered":"The South African workforce shifts towards skilled jobs, but patterns still differ between race groups"},"content":{"rendered":"

There has been a shift in the last twenty years from low-skilled to semi-skilled and skilled work within the South African workforce. This was one of the results presented by the Statistician-General Pali Lehohla on the 15th September at a media event on youth unemployment. Comparisons of data from the 1994 October Household Survey and the 2014 Quarterly Labour Force Survey <\/a>show that in the first quarter of 2014, 25% of South African workers occupied skilled occupations (i.e. managers, professionals and technicians), an increase from 21% in 1994. However, a higher percentage (46%) were still in semi-skilled occupations (e.g., clerks, craft and related trades, and machine operators) in 2014, a slight decrease from 47% in 1994; and 29% were in low-skilled occupations (elementary jobs and domestic work), down from 32% in 1994.<\/p>\n

Although the proportion of skilled workers within all race groups increased over the twenty-year period, the extent of change differs between the races. There were substantial shifts towards skilled work among white and Indian\/Asian populations, with the proportion of skilled workers increasing from 42% in 1994 to 61% in 2014 among the white workforce (a gain of 19 percentage points), and an increase among the Indian\/Asian workforce from 25% to 51% over the same period (a gain of 26 percentage points). The proportion of semi-skilled workers within the white workforce decreased from 55% in 1994 to 36% in 2014. Only 3% of white workers occupied low-skilled occupations in both 1994 and 2014.<\/p>\n

An examination of the data also revealed little movement towards skilled employment among the black African workforce, with the black African workforce showing only a slight movement towards skilled occupations, but a more substantial movement towards semi-skilled occupations. In 1994, 15% of black African workers occupied skilled jobs, increasing to only 18% in 2014. Over the same period the proportion of black African workers in semi-skilled occupations increased from 42% to 48%. It is also worth mentioning that the black African workforce\u2019s decrease of 9 percentage points for low-skilled occupations (43% to 34%) contributed to the general shift towards skilled occupations.<\/p>\n

When the same analysis is applied to age groups, the data show that there has been a shift towards skilled work in all age groups within the four population groups, with the exception of black Africans aged 25-34 years. In 1994, 17% of black African youths aged 25-34 occupied skilled occupations. In 2014, this decreased to 15%. Addressing effective skills development will be a crucial dimension in reducing the country\u2019s high rate of unemployment.<\/p>\n

Download the presentation here<\/a><\/p>\n

Download the full report\u00a0here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There has been a shift in the last twenty years from low-skilled to semi-skilled and skilled work within the South African workforce. This was one of the results presented by the Statistician-General Pali Lehohla on the 15th September at a media event on youth unemployment. Comparisons of data from the 1994 October Household Survey and   read more »<\/a><\/p>\n

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