The Department of Labour’s (DoL) Public Employment Services (PES) branch has referred or placed 96 000 job seekers in job opportunities in the period ending March 31, 2012.
Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant told the two-day Department of Labour’s Annual Evaluation workshop of the 2011/12 Financial Year held near Krugersdorp today (July 10) that this ‘achievement’ was just the beginning of a process that would require a collective effort to be sustained.
Oliphant said the department’s successful hosting of a Job Summit and Job Fair in East London and Richards Bay, although a success, was also a ‘bitter pill to swallow’, as its hosting brought into the fore the issue of joblessness.
“The long queue of young people to register for job opportunities at the Job Fair last week was a demonstration of the monumental challenge of unemployment.
“We need to do more and we should do better than we are currently. The President (Jacob Zuma) has asked us to use might of state. Ours now, is how do we ramp-up job creation opportunities and get supporting institutions to place them in opportunities!
The Minister said: “We want to get South Africa to work, while also making sure Public Employment Services (PES) branch of the department respond to job creation”.
The DoL’s Annual Workshop attended by the department’s top brass and members of Select Committee on Public Enterprises and the Portfolio Committee on Labour provides an opportunity to review work and provide for feedback on how to deal with challenges that lie ahead.
Last week’s DoL’s Job Fair in Richards Bay was attended by 11 800 job seekers.
In the light of job creation being an area of focus the Minister committed the Department on its objective of reducing the vacancy rate. In September 2011 the vacancy rate stood at 7,89 % and shot down in March 2012 to 7,28 % and this has now been halved to 6,92 % in June 2012.
“We can never be proud of these stats in the light of brewing unemployment,” the department’s Corporate Services said.
DoL Deputy Director-General: Public Employment Services (PES) Sam Morotoba said up to the end of March 31 the branch had profiled 220 000 job seekers and was optimistic that the passing of PES Bill, currently at Nedlac would help give stimulus to work ahead.
Morotoba said through the Employment Services South Africa (ESSA), an electronic capturing system used by both employers to register for vacancies and job seekers for placement could still do more through the free service.
He said through a social plan initiative the department had managed to save 15 165 jobs against a target of 20 000.
An area of consternation for Morotoba was the requests by companies for corporate permits for importation of migrant workers in low-skilled areas, especially in sectors such as transport, construction and agriculture amongst others, when the country was faced with towering unemployment rate.
Enquiries:
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