Public employment programmes foster more than just jobs

Employment outcomes undoubtedly matter. But in a country where unemployment hovers at crisis levels, economic growth remains sluggish and the formal economy is unable to absorb all those seeking work, formal employment alone is an insufficient metric for real development.

Margo le Roux is a project lead at the Economic Development Partnership where she convenes the Social Employment Network that underpins the Social Employment Fund.

South Africa’s public employment programmes are facing increasing scrutiny. And rightly so. In a constrained fiscal environment, policymakers and funders are asking difficult questions about impact and sustainability.

The success of public employment programmes is measured almost exclusively by a single indicator: how many participants secure formal employment after leaving the programme.

For four years, the Social Employment Fund (SEF) has created opportunities for more than 3,300 participants through civil society organisations embedded in communities across the country. According to data compiled from 19 Strategic Implementing Partners (SIP), those participants transitioned from SEF to three dominant pathways: 55.8% moved into formal employment, 34.5% started their own micro-enterprises, and 9.6% pursued further studies or training. Working through civil society organisations means that the SEF’s impact is far greater than only the number of individuals placed into formal work, but this impact often goes unrecognised.

The underlying motivation for measuring the number of jobs created is based on the assumption that individuals move neatly from unemployment to temporary public employment to permanent formal work. But this assumption reflects a labour market that many South Africans do not experience.

The reality of many people’s labour market experience is the piecing together of livelihoods from multiple activities: informal trade, self-employment, short-term work, social grants, further study and entrepreneurship. The temporary employment provided through SEF is a key enabler of this multisource livelihood.

Using linear measurements of formal jobs to determine whether programmes like SEF are successful risks prematurely cutting funding to a critical enabler of employability.

Practitioners within the SEF report that participants use programme opportunities in diverse ways.

Some transition into formal employment. Others establish micro-enterprises, strengthen existing local businesses, pursue further education, diversify household income streams or acquire new digital and technical skills.