Johannesburg - Job losses in June amounted to 31 781‚
bringing the total job losses for the past two months to 85 520‚ according to
Adcorp Holdings [JSE:ADR].
The human capital management group found that most sectors
reported declines‚ apart from wholesale and retail trade (+2.1%)‚ all
occupations except managers (+2.2%) and professionals (+3.3%).
All employment categories except the informal sector
reported a decline. This meant that employment in SA fell sharply at an
annualised rate of 2.0% in June‚ following an even higher decline in May of
3.1%.
The sharpest declines were recorded in agriculture (12.7%);
transport (8.6%); mining (8.1%); plant and equipment (4.7%); and construction
(-4.7%).
Adcorp’s index of informal sector employment rose 0.2%‚
representing the 12th consecutive monthly improvement.
An analysis‚ based on a limited number of candidates‚ of the
wage premium of affirmative action candidates by Adcorp revealed that the
premium for blacks is 23.1% and for black females is 36.4% compared with their
white counterparts.
“The wage premium of affirmative action candidates over
their non-affirmative counterparts is one of the most important labour market
indicators‚” Adcorp labour economist Loane Sharp said.
He said that in order to determine the affirmative action
premium‚ it was necessary to hold constant the level of skills‚ qualifications‚
experience‚ on-the-job performance and other pertinent information to
accurately reflect the purely race-linked pay discrepancies between the
candidates.
Since much of the information required to determine the
“premium” was not recorded or not readily available‚ Adcorp obtained the
information from 1 604 permanent placements it made for the 12-month period
June 2011 to May 2012.
“The figures also showed that Asians and coloureds earn 2.7%
and 7.3% less than whites respectively‚ whereas blacks earn 23.1% more than
whites for equivalent levels of skills‚ qualifications‚ experience and
on-the-job performance‚” he noted.
When the figures were dissected further by gender‚ Asian and
black females earned 3.1% and 15.5% more than their male counterparts‚ whereas
coloured and white females earned 25.2% and 20.6% less than their male
counterparts.
“It is important to stress that as the data is not
consistently available over time‚ it is impossible to say whether the
affirmative action wage premium has been rising or falling over time‚” Sharp
said.
Adcorp will continue to track and report on these figures in upcoming editions of the Adcorp Employment Index.
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