SA companies plan 10 000 job cuts as economy falters

South African companies have announced plans to cut more than 10 000 jobs less than three months into 2020 as faltering economic growth adds strain in a country where a third of the workforce is unemployed.

Electronics company Ellies is the latest to start the process of reducing its headcount due to ongoing financial losses. Jobs are also at risk at companies including Telkom SA, the country’s largest fixed-line operator, and Walmart’s local unit, Massmart, after slumps in earnings.

If realised, these job losses will add to an unemployment rate that is at the highest in at least 11 years, and place a further dampener on an economy stuck in the longest downward cycle since World War II.

The South African economy shrank by 1.4% in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to new Gross Domestic Product numbers released by Statistics SA on Tuesday.