Johannesburg - Job seekers in the construction sector may struggle to find employment in next year’s first quarter, while those looking for jobs in the electricity, gas water supply and services industries might have better luck.
An Employment Outlook Survey Quarter 1 2017 released by Manpower Group yesterday found that the labour market outlook in electricity, gas and water supply rose 16 percent, while restaurant and hotels jobs prospects rose 14 percent.
ManpowerGroup said employers in the construction sector expected employment levels to decline by 4 percent.
Lyndy van den Barselaar, the managing director of Manpower SA, said the drought had allowed for more investments to be put into water supply infrastructure. “This is believed to be a large contributing factor to the expected growth within this industry, as more individuals become more educated on the drought, those individuals and businesses that operate within this gambit will more than likely be experiencing growth, and looking to expand with Q1 to keep up with demand.”
The survey said the manufacturing sector outlook rose 11 percent, while opportunities in the agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing sector went up 9 percent. It said the finance, real estate, wholesale and retails sectors were expected to grow by a moderate 8 percent and 6 percent respectively.
Nosibusiso Ngqondoyi, the head of research at Novare, said the construction sector employment prospects declined due to flat growth in the sector. “This is in line with the flat growth displayed by the sector during the third quarter due to a notable decline in the number of square metres of private buildings plans passed.”
Ian Cruickshanks, the chief economist at SA Institute of Race Relations, said construction was in trouble and big companies were in retreat.
“The construction industry is a no-growth area; beyond commercial developments in Sandton big companies are not getting any new substantial contracts. Once those are finished, no new developments are on the horizon.”