A recent jobs report has revealed that there has been a rise in work-from-home job opportunities in South Africa for three major job sectors.
The three job sectors that have a high demand for work-from-home jobs are the Business & Management; Information Technology (IT); and Finance job sectors, according to the Pnet Job Market Trends Report December 2024.
The report offers insights into the recruitment and employment trends of SA.
Recruitment for remote-working Business & Management professionals has grown by 37% over 2024 while recruitment for IT staff dropped by 22% year-on-year.
The declining trend in recruitment for staff in the IT job sector has been common across most regions across the world.
Overall, the slowing down of recruiting activity continued in November 2024. From October to November 2024, month-on-month, local hiring activity declined by 10%.
Year-on-year, hiring activity also lowered by 10%, compared to November 2023 while the trend from the two-year comparison revealed that recruitment activity has declined by 10%.
Hybrid working
According to Reena Cruz, Content Marketing Manager at Xodo, in 2025 more companies will be embracing hybrid working with research showing that employees prefer the work-from-home trend.
“Research suggests that employees favour the trend, which has been found to lower quit-rates and improve job satisfaction," Cruz said.
Hybrid working helps employees get more done because employees can work where they feel most comfortable and they spend less time commuting which leaves more time and energy for professional work.
Due to workers being able to have a better work-life balance, they are generally less stressed, and feel more in control of their working lives with research revealing that hybrid workers having more job satisfaction.
"Studies suggest that while working from home (WFH) entirely can actually be negative for productivity, hybrid working provides a better balance between home time - which can be more relaxed - and time spent in the workplace under pressure from colleagues, management, and schedules," Cruz said.
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