Workers are switching jobs in South Africa and moving into these different fields

Jobs portal CareerJunction has published its employment insights overview for 2022, revealing the top employing industries in South Africa.

The report is based on extensive data collected from Saongroup South Africa, a platform where around 5,000 of South Africa’s top recruiters post job listings for millions of registered jobseekers.

According to CareerJunction, 2022 provided many job seekers with new employment and career development opportunities.

The group’s latest research analysed the movement of job seekers into new roles to determine which sectors and job roles have seen the most movement over 2022.

CareerJunction said that the Admin, Office & Support sectors and the Sales, Finance, Transportation and Education sectors were full of opportunities for employees to jump ship from one profession to another.

Although the diversity of opportunities is encouraging to see, it is important to bear in mind that different industries require a collection of different skills and expertise, said CareerJunction.

Out of the top five sectors, the most predominant new job roles over the year were in Admin, Office & Support, including field workers, general workers, cashiers, receptionists and administrators.

Within the top five sectors, according to the report, the most predominant new job roles in 2022 were split among the following:

• Admin, Office & Support: Field workers, general workers, cashiers, receptionists and administrators;
• Sales: Within this industry, agents and sales consultants got the newest positions;
• Finance: Accountants landed the newest roles in this sector;
• Transportation: Drivers were in high demand, said Career Junction;
• Education: Tutors gained a significant amount of new opportunities.

“Interestingly, roles like field worker, general worker, cashier, and tutor attracted many job seekers without previous work experience. On the other hand, most candidates who moved into a new accountant, receptionist or sales consultant role in 2022 came with previous work experience,” reported the job listings company.

Regarding the movement of employees, the following trends were reported by Career Junction:

Building and Construction 

Professionals who used to work in building and construction made a shift to the following industries:

Those that started in new jobs specialised in one of the following fields:

• Plasterer & Stucco Mason
• Building Project Management
• Electrician
• Construction / Demolition Equipment Operator
• Quantity Surveying
• Metal, Iron, Steel & Rebar Works
• Construction Works
• Consulting Engineering

Marketing 

Marketing professionals who found new employment moved into these industries:

Those that started in new jobs specialised in one of the following fields:

The majority of marketing professionals who started new jobs specialise in one of the following fields:

• Events Coordination & Planning
• Marketing Assistance
• Communications & Public Relations
• Market Research & Analysis
• Brand Management
• Product Management
• Advertising

Management

Management professionals who successfully landed new roles moved into these industries:

Information Technology

Many IT professionals who switched employment moved into these industries:

Those that started in new jobs specialised in one of the following fields:

• Systems / Network Administration
• Software Development
• Data Analysis / Data Warehousing
• IT Project Administration / Management Business Analysis
• Systems Analysis

Warehousing and Logistics

Warehousing & logistics professionals who found new work moved into these industries:

Those that started in new jobs specialised in one of the following fields:

• Warehouse Operations
• Packing & Packaging
• Logistics Management
• Dispatch & Receiving

Admin, Office and Support

Admin, office & support professionals who changed employers moved into these industries:

Those that started in new jobs specialised in one of the following fields:

• Admin Clerk
• Data Capturing
• Client / Customer Support
• Human Resources
• Call Centre Operator
• Personal Assistant
• Switchboard / Reception
• Teller / Cashier
• Health, Safety & Environment

Manufacturing and Assembly

CareerJunction reported that manufacturing & assembly professionals who found new roles moved into these industries:

Those that started in new jobs specialised in one of the following fields:

• Quality Control
• Artisan
• Machinist
• Process Control
• Plant / Production Control
• Metallurgy / Boiler Making
• Supply Chain Control
• Tool / Die Making
• Plant / System Operator

Finance 

Many finance professionals who changed employers moved into these industries:

Those that started in new jobs specialised in one of the following fields:

• Financial / Project Accounting
• Bookkeeping
• Accounts Payable / Receivable
• Internal Auditing
• Purchasing & Procurement
• External Auditing
• Debt, Rent / Cash Collection
• Financial Services Consulting
• Credit Management
• Claims Assessment
• Payroll & Wages

Science and Technology

Science & technology professionals who found new employment moved into these industries:

Those that started in new jobs specialised in one of the following fields:

• Demographer
• Earth / Geo Scientist
• Medical Technologist
• Environmental Scientist
• Chemical & Materials Scientist
• Medical Scientist
• Biological Scientist
• Mathematician / Statistician
• Economist
• Agricultural / Food Technologist

Sales

Sales professionals who successfully landed jobs moved into these industries said CareerJunction:

Those that started in new jobs specialised in one of the following fields:

• Representative / Sales Consulting
• Retail
• Merchandiser / Product Promoter / Demonstrator
• Account Management
• Telesales / Telemarketing
• Real Estate / Property Agent.

Read: 3 tips to help improve your chances of landing a job in South Africa