[Future of Work] An analysis of online recruitment in South Africa during 2015

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We have done an in depth analysis of the job posts on our platform over the past year as well as over 40 other online job boards serving the South African market. This, combined with our understanding of our job seeker and recruiter users has helped us to identify a number of key trends in the South African job market.

Continued growth in online recruitment

A review of online recruitment activity from January to December 2015 has again shown an increase in the number of positions advertised online. At Careers24 we have seen a 25% increase in the number of job posted in 2015 compared to the year before.

Top five sectors for online job posts

The top five sectors showing the highest demand for candidates across the market were Finance (16.1%), IT and telecommunications (15%), Administration (10%), Sales (9.8%) and Engineering (8.3%). Careers24 has seen a very similar trend, noting the same top five sectors, with Finance (19.7%) and IT and telecommunications (14.7%) in the two leading positions and Sales (14.4%) ranking third. More positions from the Engineering sector (8.8%) has however been posted on Careers24 compared to Administration (6.4%).

Sectors showing the biggest shifts

Overall the market has seen an increase of over 36% in management positions offered, while there has been a 20% decline in hospitality and catering jobs.

Top locations

Gauteng still leads the way in terms of job opportunities with Johannesburg, Sandton and Pretoria being listed among the top six locations for positions advertised during the past year on Careers24 as well as competing sites.

Interestingly 2015 saw the biggest increase in job offers coming from the Century City area in Cape Town. A large number of recruitment agencies have started operating from this area over the past year.

Young tech-savvy job seekers continue to look for jobs online

Almost half of the candidates on the Careers24 database are between 26 and 34 years old and almost 20% are between 18 and 25 years old. An average of 600,000 job applications have gone through our website per month. Last year there were over 60,000 new candidate registrations. The qualifications of the majority of the job seekers on Careers24 range from matric (27%), a diploma (28%), a degree (17%) or certificate (14%).

About Careers24
Established in 2005, Careers24.com is South Africa's leading online career portal, listing thousands of jobs from a vast selection of recruiters and attracting over 2 million unique job seekers to the website monthly. Careers24.com forms part of the Naspers Group which owns companies such as DSTV, MWEB and Media24. Jobs are therefore distributed across a network of leading sites including News24.com, MWEB and OLX.co.za.

More than just a recruitment portal, Careers24.com uses innovative tools and easy-to-use functionality to help both recruiters and candidates find the best match.

Find Careers24 at www.careers24.com, on Twitter @careers24jobs, on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Careers24 and on Instagram www.instagram.com/careers24sa/

For more information and to post a job ad, simply email the Careers24 sales office at moc.42sreerac@selas or call 011 235 1000.