In a time of policy uncertainty and a sluggish economy creating few jobs, there is good news with one sector.
The global business services (GBS) sector is creating jobs, with 90% going to young people who are struggling to find jobs.
According to the latest Business Process Enabling South Africa’s (BPESA) job creation report, the sector showed positive trends across most areas, creating 8 180 net new international jobs and R2.3 billion (US$131 million) in export revenue, while youth jobs accounted for 90% of new hires from April to June.
The report reviews international jobs and export services, including growth in the global GBS sector across provinces, vertical industries, youth jobs, inclusive hires and key global source markets.
South Africa’s GBS sector continues to buck the employment and business confidence trend, recording good job growth and strong export revenue for the period April to June 2025.
“I want to congratulate all sector participants for their consistent contribution to the country’s economic growth and to youth employment in particular. The GBS sector is a South African success story and one that we will be celebrating at Business Process Enabling South Africa’s GBS and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) investor conference taking place in Durban next week,” BPESA CEO Reshni Singh, says.
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Highlights in jobs report with Western Cape in the lead
Highlights in the report include the Western Cape once again in the lead with 4 119 new jobs, accounting for 50.35% of the total. KwaZulu-Natal followed with 2 434 jobs (29.76%), maintaining strong momentum in global delivery growth.
The Eastern Cape achieved a record-breaking quarter, creating 900 new international jobs – the highest number ever recorded for the province – representing 11% of the total quarterly job creation. This milestone underscores the province’s growing role in South Africa’s expanding GBS landscape, Singh says.
Gauteng contributed 727 jobs (8.89%), continuing to demonstrate steady job creation performance in the sector. Consistent with previous quarters, youth workers (aged between 18 to 34) continued to make up the bulk of new hires in the quarter, accounting for 90% of new jobs or 7 366 workers.
Singh says these new youth workers are based in the Western Cape (50.3% or 3 709), KwaZulu-Natal (29.8% or 2 192), Eastern Cape (11% with 810 new youth jobs) and Gauteng with 8.9% (or 655 youth jobs).
Most positions (71%) were frontline, voice-based contact centre roles, addressing a global demand in sectors such as utilities and energy (26.86%), insurance (22.75%), and retail and eCommerce (20.61%).
In terms of headcount, the US and the UK remain South Africa’s largest markets for outsourced services during the period, contributing 76.5% of new jobs collectively. Additional jobs logged in the quarter service other countries, with Canada, China, Japan and the UAE contributing 11.35% collectively, while Australia contributes 6.56% and Europe 5.41%.
ALSO READ: Impressive growth in SA’s global business services
Not only jobs, 26 534 workers were also trained
According to the report, the sector continues to prioritise skills development, with 26 534 workers trained between April and June 2025. As in previous quarters, many individuals participated in:
- multiple training streams, including re-skilling and upskilling initiatives to prepare workers for evolving digital roles;
- regulatory and compliance training to support quality assurance and governance standards in destination markets; and
- leadership training and coaching.
The GBS and BPO sector will be under the spotlight at the upcoming BPESA’s GBS and BPO investor conference. Deputy minister of trade, industry and competition, Zuko Godlimpi, will deliver the keynote address at the gathering of local and international delegates.
The annual conference is part of BPESA’s drive to champion South Africa as a premier destination for Global Business Services, working alongside the department of trade, industry and competition, InvestSA, Harambee and other government and industry stakeholders.
The latest GBS sector job creation report is produced by BPESA, the national industry body for the GBS and BPO sector in South Africa.
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