Labour-intensive approach to jobs crisis more likely to pay off
The interests of workers, small businesses and the effects of laws that make hiring and firing difficult must be considered more seriously
Speaking to Business Unity SA (Busa) at the beginning of January, President Cyril Ramaphosa said business leaders had never offered a cogent case to him for why and how labour laws should be changed.
Labour law reform must reflect the reality that SA’s economy is less and less accommodating of small firms, that this is one of the reasons it has grown slowly, and that economic activity is overly skills- and capital-intensive. The reform agenda must also be premised on a recognition that labour market reform that reduces the living standards of the millions of blue-collar workers who are currently employed would be all but impossible politically. ..
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