Helping hand for your staff
ALTHOUGH the economy seems to be coming out of the doldrums, life is still tough out there and many people have lost their livelihoods, if not their lives, as a result of Covid-19.
South Africa’s economy gained 6.3% in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to Statistics South Africa. However, this was on an analysed basis. Stripping out the statistics agency’s fancy footwork with accounting or statistical terms, real economic growth came in at negative 7%.
And South Africans certainly felt it, with job losses across the country and no new jobs to be found.
Almost a third of South Africans are officially unemployed, according to Statistics South Africa’s data for the three months to December. That figure doesn’t include those who have given up looking for jobs. When we include that number, 42.6% of working-age people are out of work. This meant 7.2million citizens were officially out of jobs, never mind those who had given up, and the unemployment figure was at a record high.
Unemployment is worse when it comes to younger people aged between 15 and 24, at 63.2%. For those between 25 and 34, the rate drops to 41.2%.
Black Africans, according to the data, are worse off than other groups, while black African women are the most vulnerable group.
Stretching rand
Consider each employed South African was supporting another 3.5 people in 2019 and this number has surely grown since Covid-19 arrived, it’s easy to see how bad the situation is.
Based on a tool developed by the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit in 2019, the median wage in South Africa is R3 300 a month. This amount needs to stretch quite far, and even further in the current economic situation.
Just to feed a small child costs more than R500 a month, while an active man will need to spend at least R700 on nutritional food. And that doesn’t cover other aspects such as transport, electricity, education and clothing.
Other costs also need to be considered, such as burial insurance and hygiene products.
Many South Africans turn to debt as a way to make ends meet.
But this places more pressure on household finances because the amount borrowed needs to be paid off, and often costs a lot to pay back each month. It’s a never-ending cycle.
Employers can help
People will, understandably, be stressed out about money, which means they will concentrate less and be less productive at work. Another issue bosses need to consider is that some employees may resort to stealing – from the company or other sources – to make ends meet.
A caring boss will be able to find out what’s bothering the person, and offer help. Help can come in many ways, such as offering more overtime shifts, or a slight increase, if justified.
Another option is to provide those staff who are battling with the option to access their wages early, in a responsible manner. This allows them to use cash they have already earned to get themselves over a financial hump.
This prevents staff from having to resort to increasingly expensive lenders, some of whom may not be above board, while at the same time building trust in your company. If you know there is a solution and the boss cares, you’ll work harder for them.
It’s a win-win answer.