The Job
Seeker Report

A resource dedicated to understanding
the store-level job seeker in South Africa

A resource dedicated to understanding the store-level job seeker in South Africa

Download the report

95.0%

rely on public transport

48.2%

spent a year

job seeking

WHAT IS THE JOB SEEKER REPORT

The 2026 Job Seeker Report is JOBJACK’s first research study into the employment journeys of job seekers, based on nearly a million job seeker profiles and thousands of direct responses. It’s written for those who hire them, those who manage them, and those who run businesses employing thousands of frontline workers each year. It offers insight into the challenges our job-seeking population faces every day, and the resilience and hope they carry through them.

OUR RESEARCH COHORT

5087

Survey respondents

867,706

Registered job seeker profiles

4,919,035

Job applications sent

3 Industries

QSR, Retail, Merchandising

WHAT THEY SAY

"Honestly what keeps me going is my long term goal to be financially stable and to build my career"

-Survey respondent

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT

Every finding, the data behind it, and what it means for how you hire, onboard and keep people.

Download the report

FIVE NUMBERS BEHIND THE COST OF TRYING

1 in 132

job seekers

on JOBJACK

were appointed

job seekers

on JOBJACK

were appointed

job seekers

on JOBJACK

were appointed

11x

more likely to be appointed with work record

36.4%

of job seeker who missed an interview had no money for transport

82.4%

of unemployed job seekers rate growth as important
in a job

R490

average estimate spend
each month looking for work

“This report is to show that there is a cost to not only trying to
find a job, but staying within a job, because we are unknowingly
adding to the barriers and perceptions of frontline employment.“

“This report is to show that there is a cost to not only trying to find a job, but staying within a job, because we are unknowingly adding to the barriers and perceptions of frontline employment.“