Increasing labour market participation
is a necessary condition for the South
African labour market to achieve
the employment target of 11 million
new jobs by 2030 in the National
Development Plan (NDP). But, despite
the urgency of unemployment
alleviation, anecdotal evidence points
to a perceived disinclination to accept
available employment in some priority
sectors by some low-skilled unemployed
people. These observations are based on
work-seekers’ reported refusal to accept
job offers after they were matched
to vacancies as posted by employers
through the Public Employment Services’
(PES) Employment Services of South
Africa (ESSA) system. The Department
of Labour (DoL) has registered such
work-seekers’ reluctance to accept
employment mostly in agriculture, and
to a lesser extent in the hospitality and
security sectors.