Thousands of engineers face unemployment

An economist says the South African civil engineering sector could shed thousands of jobs this year. Pierre Blaauw, of the South African Federation of Civil Engineers, says the sector has been hit by a slump in revenues as contracts fall.

Blaauw says the expectation is that many of the larger companies will re-evaluate their current employment status and will shed jobs in the coming months. The government has announced plans to spend about R15 billion on infrastructure projects to create jobs over the next five years.