If you work in the formal non-agricultural sector and earn more than R26,000 a month before tax – but including overtime and bonuses, then you officially earn an above-average salary in South Africa.
The findings of Stats SA’s Quarterly Employment Statistics survey, released on Thursday, reveal that the average monthly salary in May was R25,994 – a quarter-on-quarter increase of 2.8 percent from February’s average salary of R25,274, and a 5.4 percent annual increase from R24,668 in May 2022.
Employees who have seen such increases in their salaries most likely work in the community services, business services, trade, manufacturing, construction, transport, and mining industries.
Not only has the electricity industry shown a decrease in salaries but, across all industries, bonus payments to employees have fallen.
“This decrease was mainly attributed to the decline in bonus payments in business services, manufacturing, community services, and electricity. However, the industries that recorded an increase in bonus payments were transport, trade, and construction,” Stats SA reports.
Compared to the same quarter last year, however, bonus payments increased.
The picture is slightly different when it comes to the payment of overtime as this figure increased on both a year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter basis. This was mainly driven by the growth in overtime payments in manufacturing, business services, transport, trade, construction, and electricity. Community services reported a decrease in overtime payments.
Fewer South Africans have full-time jobs
Although the report states that the formal non-agricultural sector added 39,000 jobs in the second quarter of 2023, reaching almost 10,1 million jobs, the number of full-time workers decreased by 25,000, dropping from 8,816,000 in March 2023 to 8,791,000 in June 2023. This decrease was mainly attributed to the decline in full-time employment in:
- community services (-11,000)
- manufacturing (-10,000)
- construction (-6,000)
- transport (-1,000)
The electricity and business services industries showed no change in this quarter but the mining and trade industries recorded increases.
Year-on-year, the total number of full-time workers across all industries dropped by 46,000, the data shows.
When looking at part-time employment, the quarter ending June 2023 saw a rise in employment by 64,000 jobs. This was mainly driven by the growth in part-time employment in:
- community services (51,000)
- business services (12,000)
- construction (5,000)
- electricity (1,000)
The manufacturing industry showed no change in the quarter but the trade and transport industries have seen fewer part-time employment opportunities.
Part-time employment across non-agricultural industries went up by 150,000 from June 2022 to June 2023.
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