• This week the Department of Employment and Labour’s Public Employment Services will be hosting a series of job fairs.
• The job fairs started on Monday and there are three more scheduled for Riverdale, Knysna and Oudtshoorn this week.
• These fairs serve as a build up to a job fair being hosted in George in February.

Despite there being myriad problems, unemployment is among the more pressing problems South Africans face. According to Quarterly Labour Force Survey for 2023, the official unemployment rate sits at 31.9 percent with 16.7 million of South African citizens holding a job.

This week, in a bid to expose more citizens to employment opportunities, the Department of Employment and Labour will be hosting a series of job fairs throughout the Western Cape. The job fairs began on Monday in Mossel Bay and continue today in the sleepy town of Sedgefield just outside of George as well as in Uniondale.

Today’s job fair runs until 15:00 at the Sizamile Community Hall in Smutsville and the Uniondale Town Hall respectively.

The other job fairs will be taking place from 09:00 to 15:00 at the following locations:

• Wednesday 31st January – Riverdale, Thusong Centre
• Wednesday 31st January – Knysna, Khayalethu Community Hall
• Thursday 1st February – Oudtshoorn, Toekomsrus Community Hall

These fairs are championed by the Department of Employment and Labour’s Public Employment Services. The PES hopes to create opportunities for job seekers and employers to engage. Job seekers can also take of adhoc services including filing a claim for South Africa’s Unemployment Insurance Fund.

“The services to be provided include processing of Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) applications, claims assessment, resolving UIF inquiries and processing of Occupational Injuries and Diseases claims and inquiries. Also on offer will be the Public Employment Services where job-seekers will be afforded amongst other services, an opportunity to register their CVs on the Employment System of South Africa (ESSA) database, through which they can be matched with prospective recruiters,” the department said.

This job fair serves as a build up by the department to improve service delivery in the Southern Cape. The department will be hosting a jobs fair in George from 5th to 6th February.

This fair will be hosted at the Thembalethu Sportsgrounds in Thembalethu, George and will run from 08:00 to 16:00. Minister Thulas Nxesi will host an Employer Breakfast session on the morning of 5th February where employers will be able to engage with potential employees.

If you’re looking for a job, we highly recommend you attend these job fairs.

[Image – Katie White from Pixabay]