Earnings in construction industry shrinking, says safety officer

A Johannesburg man who worked in construction said he had to look for other employment as earnings in the industry were shrinking.

Victor Seleke, a safety officer, says he was affected by the lack of financial growth reflected in the Stats SA quarterly employment statistics which showed an annual decrease of 27,000 employees in the construction industry in March compared with March 2022.

There was a quarterly decrease of 2,000 employees or -0.4% in March compared with December. This was mainly due to decreases in employment in the building of complete constructions or parts thereof, civil engineering, said Stats SA.

“I was earning less and not growing. And the regulatory body that we pay R3,200 per year to for membership was not standing up for us. I earned R23k and I was with the company for five years and I felt exploited. We had a formal conversation about the money issues and nothing was done. The salary was not enough and it didn’t seem like things will change.

“The work is too much and risky. Imagine getting up in the morning for a job where someone can assault you for telling them to do their work. Everyone points fingers at you and you can’t afford to make mistakes, every day you deal with costly challenges and the money is not making up for it,” said Seleke.

Stats SA announced on Tuesday that employment in South Africa decreased by 21,000 or 0.2% between the fourth quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023, with sectors such as business services, trade, transport and construction taking some of the hardest hits. 

“One time I had to kick a guy off the site and he came at me wielding a knife. A lot of companies don’t pay any more, when you look at jobs online you see that they are no better offers. Sometimes they will demand at least five years’ experience and then they pay you R15k.

“Things are not good, you have to move around companies and even then the salary is not always competitive,” said Seleke.

The statistics look at all categories of employment across sectors, from full-time to part-time. It also traces statistics of total gross earnings, basic salaries, bonuses and overtime payments.

The decrease from 9,991 000 in December to 9,970 000 in March was largely due to decreases in trade, which lost 36,000 jobs, business services, which lost 32,000 jobs, transport, which lost 2,000 jobs, and construction, which also lost 2,000 jobs. 

“Full-time employment decreased by 63,000 quarter-on-quarter, from 8,881 000 in December to 8,818 000 in March. This was largely due to decreases in business services, trade, community services, and transport,” Stats SA said in its key findings. 

The electricity industry reported no quarterly change in part-time employment, while decreases were noted in trade, construction and manufacturing. Part-time employment decreased 73,000 or 6.0% year on year between March 2022 and March 2023. 

“Gross earnings paid to employees decreased by R34.1bn or 4.0% from R864.2bn in December 2022 to R830bn in March 2023. This was largely due to decreases in trade, community services, manufacturing, construction, transport and electricity,” Stats SA said. 

It noted increases in community services, mining by 5,000, manufacturing by 4,000, and electricity. Total employment decreased by 97,000 or 1% year on year between March 2022 and March 2023.

TimesLIVE

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.