There is an important and intense debate over the question of all types of subsidies, allowances and grants.
The article Call for wage subsidy gets ball rolling was first published in Business Day today. Thanks to Business Day for these random extracts. Click on the link to read it.
“The Democratic Alliance (DA) has struck gold with its campaign to have a youth wage subsidy put in place. ‘Put the words ‘jobs’, ‘youth’ and ‘subsidy’ next to one another and people like it,’ a DA official remarked after the party’s march on the Congress of South African Trade Unions’ head office had radio stations and social media buzzing.”
“The DA’s activism has given the ANC a problem: if not the wage subsidy, which sounds so good, then what is the alternative?
The new words are ‘suite of measures,’ ‘comprehensive’ and ‘accord’. And as with all accords and negotiations, Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel is now in charge. The ‘suite’, for the moment, still includes the youth wage subsidy proposed by the Treasury. It will also include: some kind of a ‘job seekers’ grant, which hasn’t been defined yet; proposals from the Department of Labour about the creation of jobs centres; and various ideas around enhancing recruitment and matching of work seekers and available jobs.
All of these, with the exception of the youth wage subsidy, are pretty vague at this point and discussions in the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac), where the accord is due to be brokered, are under way. But while the wage subsidy is the best developed of the ideas, it is not universally supported by the government. Although it was formally endorsed by the Cabinet, in so far as it was included in last year’s budget, there was no prior process to build political support for it either in Cabinet or in the ANC.
The DA’s campaign has begun to make the wage subsidy appear as a silver bullet solution, being blocked only by the self-interested labour movement. But there are some real doubts, in government circles, particularly in Mr Patel’s department, about the cost it will take to create a sustainable job — estimated at R37,000 — and the fear of older workers being replaced due to the depressed economic climate.
An alternative idea is what the ANC during its policy conference labelled a ‘job seeker’s grant’. Mr Mantashe this week described it as a scheme not unlike the UK’s dole, where to continue to qualify for payments, a person must demonstrate proof that they are looking for a job and have not turned down employment opportunities.”
“On the other hand, there are a couple of job-search programmes being looked at by the government that will likely feed into discussion. One is a work-readiness programme designed by Miriam Altman at the Human Sciences Research Council which will soon be piloted by the Gauteng government. In this programme, incentives or grants are provided to recruitment firms to provide young people with the skills needed to enter a workplace.
A second (option) being looked at by the Department of Social Development, is a grant for young adults, linked to the social grant system. One of the proposed ideas would take the form of a voucher which can be used for education, training or entrepreneurial activity.
Another idea, which has been floated around for a while, is a large expansion of the public sector at a grade lower than the entry level, to bring young people into work and give them work experience.”
Youth study vindicates SA’s labour brokers
Carol Paton’s article was first published in Business Day yesterday and with the kind permission of Business Day here are some extracts but the entire article needs to be read by going to Business Day or clicking on the link.
“A study about young job seekers has found that temporary employment services — usually referred to as labour brokers — play a big role in helping unskilled and inexperienced workers find employment.
The study by the Centre for Development Enterprise found labour brokers were most useful to those whose link to the labour market was particularly tenuous.”
“Researchers said they found no evidence that people employed by labour brokers earned wages significantly lower than was typical or were employed in sectors of the economy considered less desirable.”
“The study showed most young people got their first jobs from information from family or friends, sending out CVs and responding to advertisements. Young people in households where no one worked had a slim chance of finding jobs unless they got help.”