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2020 Set To Be A Hard Year To Find or Even Keep A Job

A report about employment prospects by ManpowerGroup shows that 2020 is going to be a very tough year to find a new job. It also shows that many firms are already planning now to let large amounts of staff go.

Researchers surveyed hundreds of businesses across the country and in all sorts of sectors to find out what these businesses have planned for 2020. The report is unfortunately not very promising.

People Are Going to Get Fired

It is not just Donald Trump and the US Military that are firing things and causing chaos. Many employers are planning to reduce their costs by letting staff go during the year. Of those sectors surveyed 8% of employers plan to significantly reduce staff numbers and anticipate letting staff go.

‘8% of employers…anticipate letting staff go.’

Losing a job can be devastating financially for families who are under debt stress. Few families take advantage of credit insurance which will help cover their debt repayments if they lose their income even though they should. Poor education in this area adds to peoples burdens in this situation. Most people have taken on debt rather than living within their means and will struggle to cover these costs on top of their monthly needs should their household income drop due to someone losing their job.

Reducing your reliance on credit now is vital to try protect you against such a situation in the future.

Finding Work

While some sectors are shrinking and will have to let staff go, other areas are doing well and fortunately will probably be taking on staff. 10% of employers surveyed report planning on taking on new staff. This means that even though many people will be losing jobs there may well be a 2% increase of companies actually doing some hiring. Given the amount of people sitting unemployed across the country these numbers are not very positive since millions of young people are already looking for work and many more just finished their schooling in 2019 and will now be entering the job market.

Will You Get An Increase in 2020?

In all likelihood not. 10% of employers said they are planning on giving increases this year. Another 81% said they cannot afford to offer increases. in something of a scary statistic, around 8% said they are planning on decreasing salaries to try help their company survive.

‘8% said they are planning on decreasing salaries to try help their company survive’

Best Opportunities

The best opportunities during 2020 seem to lie in the Western Cape. The best chances are in the industries of Finance, Insurance and Real estate. Then at a slightly lower rate of growth comes Hunting, Forestry & Fishing, Hotels, Restaurants and Agriculture. There is also a small chance of finding work in Retail.

The Construction sector has been particularly hard hit with a 5% decline and possible employers saying they anticipate a further decrease in hiring (around 9%).

7 out of 10 sectors surveyed reported that they anticipate a worse outlook in 2020. So, possible employers are not too optimistic about your chances.