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Long period of being unemployed lessens chances of finding work: Study

Unemployed people.
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A new study conducted by the University of South Africa revealed that being unemployed for a long of period time lessens the chance of finding work because of job scarcity.

The research was published in the South African Science Journal recently. The unemployment rate increased slightly in the third quarter of 2018 to 27, 5%.

Another finding is that it is difficult for those who were unemployed for a long time to retain their jobs once they become employed.

One of the researchers, Zandile Nonyane says, “Job sustainability is another factor that we found to affect unemployment persistence where those that leave unemployment to employment are more likely to be without jobs overtime. When we calculate the labour market prediction they show that the probability of retaining a job depreciated to about 77% over a period of three quarters.”

Nonyane has made recommendations to policy makers. She says, “We need to change the way we look into employment though we are not going to find solutions overnight but if we can engage in more researches relating to this problem we will soon find a solution towards this problem.”

Labour Analyst, Terry Bell says it is hard for a person who has been unemployed for a long time to find work because they often become demoralised.

He says, “There are many people who have been unemployed for years and they just give up, they give up hope of ever being employed, this leads to all sorts social problems, this leads to alcoholism, this leads to the use of drugs to escape, an absolute desolate life.”

Bell says job seekers face difficulty because there is a shortage of jobs and also there is likely to be an even greater shortage as time goes on because of automation.

“We don’t have much of a manufacturing base and that too is going to be hit by automation. So you have a number of people, particularly young people, who have a qualification, even tertiary, university qualification but have no experience of work and employers are in a position where they can pick and choose because they look at people who have experience and the technical qualification,” he adds.

The study also informs those without jobs to engage in training activities in order to enhance their skills to remain relevant and to increase their chances of getting employment.

Fifty five-year-old Themba Mkwanaza from Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, who is a teacher by profession, has been looking for work for 5 years.

The married, father of four’s situation illustrates some of the lived experience of the findings of a study conducted by Unisa into unemployment.

Mkwanaza says, “My experience is that sometimes you don’t get responses from where you have applied or if you are lucky enough you are called for an interview then it ends there. In fact I’m devastated because I’ve qualifications but it’s very very challenging to get work.”

 

 

 

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