Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Higher (or lower) wages are not the long-term problem in SA. The real problem is that wage increases (and remuneration generally) are not linked to productivity. In SA labour productivity is low and falling, and other costs (mainly administered) are increasing rapidly, above any acceptable rate of inflation.
If the minimum wage and high entry-level wages mean there is no cost-effective labour available, the move to automation and other types of labour restructuring to reduce production costs is inevitable.
Anti-business legislation generally, and that affecting smaller businesses specifically, has led to rapid deindustrialisation, which is also destroying the low end of the labour market.
The National Economic Development & Labour Council process has failed the private sector miserably, and nobody in government understands how business works, never mind the link to employment.
Ian Ferguson Via BusinessLIVE
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: Pay hikes not linked to output
Michael Avery’s most recent Badger column refers (“A collective mess awaits the metals industry”, April 8).
Higher (or lower) wages are not the long-term problem in SA. The real problem is that wage increases (and remuneration generally) are not linked to productivity. In SA labour productivity is low and falling, and other costs (mainly administered) are increasing rapidly, above any acceptable rate of inflation.
If the minimum wage and high entry-level wages mean there is no cost-effective labour available, the move to automation and other types of labour restructuring to reduce production costs is inevitable.
Anti-business legislation generally, and that affecting smaller businesses specifically, has led to rapid deindustrialisation, which is also destroying the low end of the labour market.
The National Economic Development & Labour Council process has failed the private sector miserably, and nobody in government understands how business works, never mind the link to employment.
Ian Ferguson
Via BusinessLIVE
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Nxesi outlines plan to inject R23bn for training and job opportunities
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most Read
Published by Arena Holdings and distributed with the Financial Mail on the last Thursday of every month except December and January.