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Johannesburg – South Africa has achieved the 19th spot out of 75 countries on ManpowerGroup Solutions' 2015 Contingent Workforce Index (CWI), released on Tuesday.
The contingent workforce consists of non-permanent workers and can include categories like freelancers, temporary contract workers, independent contractors and consultants. The CWI tracks the relative ease of sourcing, hiring and retaining these types of workers.
“The South African labour market continues to be challenged by high unemployment and an ongoing skills deficit. Despite this, the country still remained within the top 25," said Lyndy van den Barselaar, managing director of Manpower SA.
"It is imperative that provincial government and the private sector continue to support employment through skills training and support for small, medium and macro-enterprises, in order to maintain and create further growth within the job market. This kind of support for the country’s job market, paired with increased foreign investment, will increase South Africa’s CWI.”
According to the index, SA's position was also impacted by a drop in ranking in the regulation and cost efficiency categories.
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New Zealand took the top spot on the 2015 CWI. The country demonstrated the most optimal characteristics for use of contingent labour, namely availability, cost efficiency, regulation and productivity.
The US remained in second place for the second consecutive year and Canada moved from seventh to third spot. Rounding out the top five are Hong Kong and Israel. China and India moved down on this year’s rankings, shifting from third to 21st and from sixth to ninth spot, respectively.
This is due to input from global employers, who have consistently placed more value on the quality of the workforce over the volume of available workers. China's position was also impacted by increased emphasis on English proficiency and educational parameters.
"This year, the shifting priorities of clients had a greater impact on the CWI rankings than ever before. Business leaders are paying more attention to talent shortages, particularly the potential for a shrinking workforce due to an ageing population," said Kate Donovan, senior vice-president of ManpowerGroup Solutions.
"Rising in importance is a population’s English proficiency, given the increased costs that result when proficiency is low. These shifting priorities have resulted in major swings among the most optimal markets for businesses seeking to use a contingent workforce."
Donovan believes the index is an excellent tool for determining where to expand business operations.
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