The COSATU-affiliated Southern African Clothing &Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU) has welcomed the increase in employment in the clothing, textile, footwear and leather (CTFL) manufacturing industry, as recorded by the most recent Quarterly Employment Survey (QES). The QES was released yesterday by Stats SA, for the 3rd quarter ending September 2015.

The QES records that by September 2015, employment in the CTFL manufacturing sector stood at a little over 90,100 workers. Over the last 12 months - between September 2014 and September 2015 – employment in the CTFL industry increased by 1.8 per cent. This was driven by growth in the clothing sector (676 new jobs), textile sector (1,197 new jobs) and the leather sector (268 new jobs).

The September 2015 CTFL employment numbers are the highest among the past 30 months. For instance in March 2014, employment in the industry was just above 87,300 workers. Although the recent increases in employment remain small, they stand in contrast to the enormous levels of job losses which decimated the industry for over two decades. They also compare favorably to the declining fortunes of the manufacturing sector as a whole, in which employment decreased by 0.3 per cent over the same recent 12 month period. This reinforces SACTWU’s opinion that the CTFL manufacturing industry is entering a new period of greater stability.

SACTWU said that much of this positive employment turn is attributed to continued strong support for the industry from national government since 2009, coupled with its aggressive “Save Jobs” campaign. Also, this is the second consecutive quarter that employment has grown, following the 3 per cent increase recorded in the previous quarter.

Sactwu.org.za