Freight feels job loss pinch

The freight industry
has seen a 0.4% drop in
employment over the past
year, marginally better
than the overall first
quarter
figure for
the country,
according to
data released
by Statistics
South Africa
recently.
And it’s
due largely
to the
state of the
economy,
according to
economist
Mike
Schussler.
“The slowdown in
prices and volumes of
commodities has a direct
effect on employment
in the roadfreight and
logistical industry sectors,”
he said.
The solution, in his
view, is optimised and
collaborative industry
practices. “Optimisation
will lower costs and allow
employees to keep their
jobs,” he said. “Government
needs to offer more support
to business, better policies
and stronger leadership.”
One good example would
be the implementation
of more market-friendly
policies between the
Southern African Customs
Union (Sacu) countries.
“For example, if they were
to make visas unnecessary
for truck drivers it would
be much easier for them to
move across borders. This
would save time, fuel and
general costs.”
Willie Coetsee, senior
manager of strategy for
Transnet Port Terminals
(TPT), agreed that the
effects of the “dramatic
freefall” in
commodity
prices – on
the back of
the Chinese
economic
slump –
would still
be felt in
the freight
industry “for
a while”.
He told
FTW that
while he
knew of a
number of companies that
were considering options
such as retrenchment or
shorter work weeks to
ensure long-term survival,
Transnet, as a state-owned
enterprise (SOE), was not
considering large-scale
retrenchments.
Coetsee believes
beneficiation could be
the solution to economic
growth and job creation
within the freight sector.
“It has been spoken about
at length and the time has
come to take action,” he
said. “Government needs to
incentivise entrepreneurs
who rise to the challenge.
Raw materials should be
turned to finished products
so that we can ship
containers of goods, rather
than wagon loads of bulk
material.”
Terri Smith, managing
director of Tiger
Recruitment, commented
that while the sector
had been affected by
unemployment, there were
still many lower and higher
level job opportunities.
“What we find is that
companies within the
freight industry try to
cut costs by not using a
recruitment agent and then
find themselves recruiting
the wrong person for the
job and having to repeat
the hiring process again,”
she said.
Finding employment
for highly qualified
people with many years
of experience who have
been retrenched has also
become a challenge. “They
are confident that they
will find work again, but
they don’t because they
are such high earners that
companies cannot afford
them,” she said.
INSERT & CAPTION
The effects of the
dramatic freefall in
commodity prices will
be felt in the freight
industry for a while.
– Willie Coetsee