With South Africa’s labour market still under pressure, global business services (GBS) remain resilient, creating 26 346 offshore jobs during the 2025/26 financial year.
This is according to industry body Business Process Enabling South Africa (BPESA), which hosted its 2026 GBS/BPO conference in Cape Town, this week.
South Africa’s unemployment rate jumped to 33.7% in the third quarter of 2026, despite the economy adding 101 000 jobs, as more people entered the labour market looking for work.
The number of unemployed people increased by 97 000 to 8.6 million between July and September, according to Stats SA data released this week.
While certain industries have seen decreases in employment, the GBS industry,historically known as business process outsourcing (BPO), has managed to add instead of shed jobs over the last several years.
South Africa’s GBS sector has also been buoyed by international investors that continue to demonstrate confidence in it, despite the changing global landscape.
BPESA’s stats show the sector added 26 346 jobs serving international clients in 2025, its best result since 2018. About nine in 10 of the jobs were occupied by young people.
Additionally, the sector generated over $422 million (R7.55 billion) in export revenue.
Reshni Singh, CEO of BPESA, commented: “South Africa has built a globally-recognised GBS sector, but to truly thrive, we must move beyond our traditional strengths, embrace higher-value services and develop future-ready skills.”
The traditional strengths, according to Singh, include a skilled, English-proficient and multilingual workforce, favourable time-zone alignment with major international markets, established infrastructure and a mature GBS ecosystem.
She added that artificial intelligence’s (AI’s) disruptive impact has made it crucial to combine technological innovation with distinctly human skills, such as empathy, judgement and complex problem-solving.
“The industry’s next phase of growth must focus on equipping employees to work alongside AI, rather than positioning technology and human talent as competing forces.”
Newly-elected BPESA chairman Crispin Sonn echoed the call, noting the impact of AI will ultimately be determined by the decisions made by businesses, policymakers and society.
“AI could be an existential threat or an opportunity to advance the quality of life for more. The power to decide its application and its limitations resides with this generation.”
Leading the pack
The Mother City, which was the host city of the two-day BPESA conference, remains the hub of South Africa’s BPO industry, according to the industry body.
Stats SA’s figures show the official unemployment rate increased in five provinces in the second and third quarters, except for the Western and Eastern Cape, as well as Limpopo.
Alderman James Vos, the city’s outgoing mayoral committee member for economic growth, revealed the BPO sector now employs more than 100 000 people, including approximately 70 000 in international-facing roles.
It also created 11 496 new jobs during the 2025/26 financial year, while 44 803 net new international-facing jobs were created over the city's current five-year municipal term.
“Behind these figures are real people developing careers and supporting their families. Working alongside BPESA and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, we must create the right conditions for businesses to invest and grow, while preparing our workforce for the opportunities that AI and technology will bring,” said Vos.
“South Africa has what it takes to compete, lead and thrive. The future of our sector will be shaped by the decisions we make, the partnerships we build and the opportunities we unlock together,” added Singh.
South Africa’s key offshore market is the UK, with 60% of the local workforce delivering services to UK clients. The US is the second-largest source market, followed by Australia and other parts of Europe.
Earlier in the year, French global business services and customer experience company TP Group, formerly Teleperformance, pledged R145 million towards its operations in the Eastern and Western Cape, with the investment expected to support 2 600 employment opportunities.
In August, global customer experience and business process management company Atain officially opened a new GBS centre in Cape Town, backed by a R70 million investment and plans to expand its local workforce from approximately 1 500 to 2 100 employees.
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