Latest news with #unemployment

‘It's taking forever': 30 yo man struggles to bounce back after nearly a year of unemployment

Independent Singapore

14 hours ago

Business
Independent Singapore

‘It's taking forever': 30 yo man struggles to bounce back after nearly a year of unemployment

SINGAPORE: A 30-year-old man recently shared in a Reddit post that he is approaching the one-year mark since he last held a job, and that his ongoing struggle with unemployment has become an increasingly difficult chapter in his life. Writing on the r/askSingapore forum on Friday (Jun 20), he revealed that he has been out of work since August 2024. Prior to that, he was earning a five-figure monthly salary at a well-known bulge bracket firm. He initially left his job to pursue a Master's degree, believing that further education would give him an edge in his career and open up more opportunities. Unfortunately, halfway through the programme, he was forced to withdraw due to unexpected financial difficulties, leaving him jobless and without the postgraduate degree. He also shared that he regretted turning down two job offers last year. 'I rejected 2 offers last year to wait for this company, which showed huge interest in me, which turned out to be disastrous,' he said. 'I also met up with a way smaller EU company that verbally offered me a job and needed me to wait till 2025 and suddenly ghosted me. Had to double text to ask what the progress is and was insulted by being offered an internship despite me being way qualified.' Seeking advice from fellow users, he asked, 'What should I do? It feels like it's taking forever. I try to keep myself positive, but things just aren't happening.' 'What to do? Keep looking.' In the comments, several users encouraged the man not to lose hope and to keep on looking. One wrote, 'Just keep applying lor. Sounds like you are in huge demand.' Another commented, 'What to do? Keep looking.' A third suggested, 'Do part time first while searching unless you are rich and can search job for 8 hours. From grab delivery/driver to retail etc. Good luck.' In other news, a local worker took to social media on Wednesday (June 18) to share that he's stuck in a 'broken' company where he's overworked, underpaid, and mentally exhausted. Posting on the r/askSingapore forum, he wrote that even though it's already 2025, his company still insists everyone show up at the office five days a week, with zero flexibility for remote work. He also mentioned that the most draining part isn't the workload itself but the fact that he spends more time 'managing upwards' than doing the job he was hired to do. He said, 'I have to remind my bosses about their own meetings, teach them how to convert a PDF (no joke), copy our own client feedback into decks because they forgot, and clarify client concerns that were literally caused by said bosses.' Read more: No WFH, overworked, and underpaid — Singapore worker says he's stuck in a 'broken' company Featured image by freepik (for illustration purposes only)

Shock drop in Australia's employment rate

Yahoo

18 hours ago

Business
Yahoo

Shock drop in Australia's employment rate

The number of Australians in work has fallen after two strong months of gains, with experts saying it is unlikely to sway the RBA at its next meeting. National unemployment figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows 2,500 less Australians were in a job in May compared with April, with the unemployment rate remaining at 4.1 per cent. According to the national figures after the May monthly change 14,620,600 Australians are in a job. This follows a surprise uplift in the number of Australians working in April when 89,000 Aussies joined the workforce. Despite the fall in the number of Australians working, the official unemployment rate of 4.1 per cent still beats RBA projections of umemploymnet rising to 4.3 per cent over the year. BDO economics partner Anders Magnusson said todays unemployment rate came in a little lower than the RBA's forecast, but won't sway them on a July rate cut. Ahead of the jobs figures, the bond markets had already added around an 83 per cent chance that the RBA would deliver back-to-back rate cuts at its July meeting. It already lowered the official cash rate twice in 2025 by a quarter percentage point at its May and February meetings. 'While a small amount of employment was lost in May, a decrease in the participation rate kept the unemployment rate stable. This doesn't change the strong case for a 25 basis point cash rate cut in July,' he said. Oxford Economics Australia economist Kar Chong Low said he expects Australia's strong unemployment rate to fade over the next 12-months. 'Global uncertainty is clouding business decisions and prompting many firms to temper hiring plans,' he said. 'To be clear, we don't expect a sharp uptick in lay-offs. 'Instead, slower hiring will see employment growth fall behind the number of people looking for work – pushing the unemployment rate to 4.5% by the end of the year.' ABS head of labour statistics Sean Crick said the number of Australians wanting a job also fell in the month of May. 'Despite the slight fall in the employment-to-population ratio this month, the female employment-to-population ratio rose 0.1 percentage points to a record high of 60.9 per cent,' Mr. Crick said. At the same time the number of hours Australians are working is on the rise and is now up by 0.1 per cent since the start of the year. 'Hours worked increased 1.3 per cent in May, following lower levels in the previous two months coinciding with the Easter holiday period and severe weather disruptions,' Mr Crick said.

Amazon To Cut 1,000 Jobs Due To AI. Now What?

Forbes

21 hours ago

Business
Forbes

Amazon To Cut 1,000 Jobs Due To AI. Now What?

Giant robot flicking tiny man. Ai technologies and unemployment problem concept. Vector ... More illustration. Earlier this week, Amazon announced it would cut 1,000 jobs due to AI. Is anyone surprised? The monster created by Big Tech has begun rising up to consume its creator. Well, perhaps not totally consume, but the damage done could likely be (a) measurable, (b) a harbinger of things to come at Amazon, and (c) a phenomenon we will see far and wide, not just at Amazon. It's inescapable for a few reasons. First, according to data from which monitors tech worker layoffs, already this year 141 companies have laid off 62,832 employees. In 2024, it was 152,922 employees from 551 companies and in 2023, it was 264,220 employees from 1,193 companies. Layoffs, we see, are inevitable – especially in tech. At the onset of new technologies or the introduction of new products, hiring takes place with kid-in-a-candy-store concern for consequences. A year later, things look quite different – and that kid is now an obese diabetic. Now, however, we see a direct cause and effect, unmistakenly traceable to AI, because AI has advanced so quickly that it is now capable of doing many of those lower, entry-level jobs we've long feared it could do. I am reminded of the classic line from the 1960s comic strip Pogo: 'We have met the enemy and it is us.' Make no mistake, though, this is not limited to tech jobs. In May, I posted a column here, 'How AI Affects The Socioeconomic Order Of The Workplace' (5/27) and here's what we saw: Beginner programmers and coders, data analysts, junior paralegals, retail sales associates, content writers, copy editors, graphic artists, and grant writers are among the many who will deal with this reality. There's more, but space and time have limits here. This phenomenon of jobs being eaten by AI will undoubtedly be seen at all tech companies, as they are the creators of this to begin with. But it will spread elsewhere. Picture lava streaming down an erupting volcano. But there's a big upside to this. The World Economic Forum predicts that AI will create 78 million jobs, even after job losses are factored in. So, working the math and going with aggregated and widely-accepted estimations that for every job killed by AI three or four will be created, we come to this: 78 million is the WEF's net number, bringing us to 100 million or more, gross. Thise jobs will just not be the vulnerable entry-level jobs we've been discussing here. It's complicated, no? If I were running a large company, I'd ask for a meeting. In the same room, I'd have the president of the local university or community college, my senator or congressperson, and me. I'd have one item on the agenda: those AI skills we've been teaching for our graduates to find their first jobs need to be relegated to high school and forever be seen as obsolete. AI will forever do them. Next, define the next level of AI jobs and teach them as the new entry level, while teaching other skills – communication, critical thinking, problem solving, etc. – that our new employees would have been developing on he way up. We are past throwing our hands in the air. This is no longer something new or mysterious. 'Success delayed is success denied,' said Ben Franklin. We just simply must take the first step.

Capitec CEO isn't wrong: Unemployment data needs work

News24

a day ago

Business
News24

Capitec CEO isn't wrong: Unemployment data needs work

• For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page. In June 2025, Capitec CEO Gerrie Fourie suggested that South Africa's real unemployment rate might be closer to 10% than the official 32.9% - the reaction was swift and unforgiving. Critics accused him of 'madness,' misunderstanding labour metrics, and trivialising the economic struggles of millions. But amid the furore, Fourie touched a nerve, one we can no longer afford to ignore. We need to be forthright. Any figure of the unemployment rate represents an enduring crisis that continues to erode our democratic dividend and undermine our efforts to build a more equitable and prosperous society for all South Africans. At the same time, we must all visit the fundamental assumptions guiding our understanding of the problem itself. What if the way we measure unemployment is not just analytically contested but structurally flawed? What if the very tools we rely on to understand our labour market are obscuring its most vital dynamics? This is not to say that our government, through Statistics South Africa, has been dishonest or missed the point through the years, but rather that the instruments and definitions used, while internationally accepted, may not fully capture the unique complexities and realities of South Africa's diverse economy, particularly its significant informal sector. South Africa's massive informal sector fundamentally challenges standard unemployment metrics. Millions officially classified as 'unemployed' are actively engaged in vital, though precarious, economic activities, such as street vending, waste recycling, home-based production, subsistence farming and numerous micro-services. These generate essential income and sustain communities, forming a vast parallel economy. Therefore, standard definitions, which prioritise formal employment structures like fixed hours, registered businesses, and regular wages, fail to capture this fluid, irregular, and self-directed work, misrepresenting significant economic participation as idleness. The fact that one is not seeking employment, is discouraged, or does not report any 'income' or 'wage' in the conventional sense, should not imply economic inactivity or irrelevance. Limitations Our unique economic landscape, shaped by historical exclusion and inequality, demands context-sensitive metrics. The rigid employed-unemployed binary obscures critical nuances, including underemployment, sporadic work, unpaid family labour and discouraged workers who actively survive informally. Relying on tools designed for smaller informal sectors misdiagnoses exclusion and risks policies that fail to support or integrate this vital economic segment. Admittedly, the official unemployment rate, derived from Statistics South Africa's Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS), uses International Labour Organisation (ILO) standards, as rightly confirmed by our Statistician-General, Risenga Maluleke. It is important to acknowledge that although the ILO provides a standardised framework for measuring unemployment, it has limitations. A key limitation is the exclusion of 'discouraged workers,' those who have stopped actively seeking work, from the official count. This can lead to an underestimation of the true extent of unemployment, particularly among women. Additionally, the ILO definition relies on individuals actively seeking work in the past four weeks, which may not capture those who have been unemployed for extended periods and may have become less active in their job search. These standards are internationally recognised and sound in principle; however, they have limitations. Statistically invisible They were likely designed for economies where formality dominates, yet they tend to undervalue the reality of emerging markets where survivalist and informal economies are not only widespread but essential. It is necessary to emphasise that South Africa has a particularly complex labour market: sophisticated in parts yet exclusionary in others. Many South Africans are not unemployed in the literal sense; they work long hours selling food on the roadside, fixing shoes, braiding hair, or delivering packages via digital platforms. However, because their activities often lack legal status, banking records, or employer verification, they are statistically invisible. This invisibility is not benign. As Michel Foucault noted, how a state 'sees' its citizens, through censuses, surveys and indicators, is not just descriptive but political. It determines where resources flow, which sectors are prioritised, and who is included in the policy imagination. Troubling reality Across the Global South, countries with expansive informal sectors report strikingly low unemployment rates. India, with an informality rate above 90%, records unemployment rates under 5%. Mexico, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia—despite structural challenges—report similarly low rates. South Africa, with an informal economy estimated to comprise 40% of total employment, somehow reports the highest unemployment rate in the world. There is a profoundly troubling reality in our labour market, mirroring trends across the Global South: the relentless informalisation of the African worker. As scholars like Guy Standing illuminate, this creates a growing 'precariat' or workers stripped of stable contracts, benefits and legal protections, existing in perpetual insecurity. This is evident in models like Shoprite's Sixty60 delivery service. Reports suggest deep labour rights transgressions and potential circumvention of migration laws, potentially relying heavily on vulnerable foreign nationals and drivers operating without proper licensing. While such practices may fuel corporate profits and boost tax collections, they fundamentally erode worker dignity and flout our migration laws. Enhanced tax revenue may be problematic when achieved through the systemic exploitation and informalisation of labour. We urgently need businesses committed to ethical conduct, recognising that loyal and honest citizenship demands treating workers with dignity, not as disposable cost centres. Dogmatic fixation on formality This crisis reflects our nation's unresolved struggle: building a vibrant economy that simultaneously protects labour rights. Our history is one where economic progress was built upon the foundation of cheap, exploitable black labour. Disturbingly, many companies remain anchored in this unpalatable logic. Their substantial profits are too often subsidised by poverty wages and resistance to adhering to labour laws, perpetuating a modern form of exploitation. The Shoprite case highlights a critical flaw in our current statistical lens: even those formally recognised as 'employed' can face severe decent work deficits – insecure incomes, unsafe conditions and denied benefits - which our rigid metrics fail to capture. Formal employment status, in such contexts, offers no guarantee of dignity or security. The human cost of this informalisation extends far beyond wages into wellbeing and visibility. Informal wage workers at the foot of the formal economy, such as Sixty60 riders, face significantly heightened health and safety risks due to unregulated work environments. In South Africa, informal workers experience injury rates 2-3 times higher than their formal counterparts, alongside severe psychological stress, with women disproportionately affected. Critically, this precarity is structurally reinforced, since only 10.7% of informal enterprises hold municipal licenses, thereby denying workers access to basic infrastructure and legal recourse. Unlike the often entrepreneurial, family-driven informality seen in parts of West Africa or South Asia, South Africa's informal sector reflects not prosperity, but our dogmatic fixation on formality. Suppressing informality does not create formality; instead, it traps workers in a vulnerable, invisible underclass. Right tools, wrong terrain The Sixty60 paradox, characterised by soaring profits and tax contributions alongside alleged deep-seated worker indignity, exposes the dangerous fallacy of equating state revenue with societal well-being or ethical progress. True dignity requires labour security and voice, neither of which is inherent in precarious gig work. To turn moral clarity into action, we will work with other government entities, including Statistics South Africa and the National Treasury, to address our concerns. We will also ramp up our labour inspection efforts to improve enforcement and compliance. Our view is that this disconnect is not purely economic but methodological. We could be using the right tools for the wrong terrain. Again, we must stress that this is not about pushing the black majority further into an abyss; we acknowledge vast swathes of surplus labour that continue to characterise the South African labour market. However, our immediate concern is solely whether the statistical measures accurately reflect the nature of economic activity, particularly informal survivalist efforts, within this complex reality. As the Department of Employment and Labour, we are addressing this definitional challenge. In our internal policy discussions, we are advancing a more nuanced classification of employment, distinguishing between formal unemployment (individuals actively seeking or available for formal sector work) and economic participation (those actively engaged in the informal economy or self-employed outside regulated sectors). This is not an attempt to mask the crisis or rewrite history. Instead, it is a genuine bid for clarity, so that policymakers, economists and communities alike can operate from a shared and realistic understanding of South Africa's complex labour market dynamics. Resilience is not success Yet, our data underscore a profound crisis: official unemployment stands at 32.9%, rising to 43.1% under the expanded definition (which includes discouraged job seekers). Youth unemployment (15–24 years) is staggering at 62.4%, while graduate unemployment stands at 11.7%, revealing deep-seated structural challenges, even for the educated. Furthermore, there are currently 3.8 million young people classified as NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training). These figures demand urgent, comprehensive reform and a labour market framework that recognises the diverse forms and complex realities of all economic activity, both formal and informal. Behind each statistic lies a human story of effort, ambition, exclusion and resilience. It is essential to stress that this resilience should not be mistaken for success; the informal sector is not thriving, but merely surviving under conditions of precarity and exclusion. Research from the UCT-Harvard Growth Lab identifies South Africa's informality rate as 'abnormally low' relative to peer economies, not due to prosperity, but rather to state-imposed constraints, including hostile zoning laws, bureaucratic red tape and over-policing. Crucially, unlike entrepreneurial, family-driven informality in West Africa or South Asia, South Africa's informal economy is predominantly employee-based, precarious and excluded from support systems. This vulnerability is strikingly illustrated by the fact that only 10.7% of informal enterprises held a valid municipal licence in 2023. These figures demand urgent, comprehensive reform and a labour market framework that recognises the diverse forms, complex realities and systemic barriers facing all economic activity, both formal and informal. We need to distinguish between informal and illegible. Just because someone is not counted does not mean they are not making a contribution. New tools needed If we want a policy that reflects the realities on the ground, we need new tools. A hybrid data ecosystem, combining the QLFS with alternative indicators such as mobile money flows, anonymised bank transaction data and digital platform work patterns, can provide a more complete and human-centred picture of labour in South Africa. Crucially, unlocking this invisible economy requires collaboration. Private sector players, including Capitec, which processes billions of township-based transactions annually, may hold part of the key to decoding our invisible economy. However, this must be done with ethical safeguards, public oversight and institutional collaboration, not in corporate isolation. Gerrie Fourie may have overstated his case, but he also illuminated a critical truth: our unemployment narrative is not just technical; it is moral. A country that fails to see the economic contributions of its people, no matter how unorthodox, fails to recognise and thus harness its potential. We are at a crossroads. Either we continue to wage policy wars based on partial metrics, or we build a statistical framework that honours the full complexity of labour in South Africa. One pathway leads to ongoing crises, while the other results in inclusive renewal. Let us choose to see. Let us choose to count. Let us choose to act. Nomakhosazana Meth is Minister of Employment and Labour.

Unemployment rate at 4.1 per cent since January

News.com.au