South Africa’s recruitment landscape is under pressure, with businesses grappling with a paradox: record high unemployment at 32.9% in Q1 2025, yet hiring remains slow and inefficient.
This disconnect is accelerating the shift towards automation, as organisations seek faster, smarter ways to attract and hire talent.
The ccale of the problem
The data paints a clear picture: the average time-to-hire in South Africa has increased from 39 days in 2019 to 47 days in 2025 – significantly longer than the global average of 36 days.
However, data from Graylink’s Applicant Tracking System shows a more encouraging trend.
Organisations using Neptune have achieved notably shorter hiring times, outperforming both local and global benchmarks.
This highlights the measurable impact of leveraging purpose-built recruitment technology to drive faster, more efficient hiring.
Research by Deloitte and SHRM indicates that each unfilled vacancy costs companies between 1.5-3x the monthly salary in lost output, overtime and hiring resources.
In sectors like retail and logistics, that equates to R100 000-R250 000 per role per month – a staggering drain on resources that many South African businesses can’t afford.
Technology disconnect
The disconnect between candidate behaviour and company systems is exacerbating these delays.
Graylink data shows that over 70% of South African job seekers now apply via mobile, yet only 28% of enterprises have optimised their application process for mobile users.
This mismatch creates friction that compounds hiring delays.
The consequences are immediate and measurable.
Lengthy, outdated application processes cause a 92% drop-off rate for mobile applicants on legacy ATS platforms, according to the Appcast 2024 Recruitment Benchmarking Report.
Companies are literally losing qualified candidates due to poor user experience.
The hidden costs
These delays carry substantial hidden costs beyond obvious recruitment expenses.
Extended vacancy periods mean existing employees shoulder additional workloads, leading to burnout and potential turnover.
Projects face delays, client service suffers and competitive advantages erode while positions remain unfilled.
For growing companies, hiring delays can be particularly devastating, preventing them from capitalising on market opportunities or scaling operations to meet demand.
The ripple effects extend throughout the economy, limiting growth potential and perpetuating cycles of underemployment.
The solution
Faced with these challenges, South African businesses are increasingly turning to automation to eliminate inefficiencies and waste.
The results speak for themselves: companies using automated screening and mobile-first ATS tools report a 32% reduction in time-to-hire and a 48% increase in candidate satisfaction, according to recent Graylink data.
Rather than waiting months to fill critical positions, companies are implementing automated systems that can handle routine tasks, streamline processes and maintain productivity levels regardless of staffing constraints.
This represents more than technological adoption – it’s a strategic response to structural challenges that traditional hiring cannot address quickly enough.
Learning from innovation
The path forward may be exemplified by creative solutions like Eskom’s crowdsourcing initiative.
As highlighted by Valisha Naidoo, such approaches demonstrate how organisations can leverage distributed talent and technology to overcome traditional operational constraints.
By thinking beyond conventional hiring models, South African businesses can build resilience while maintaining competitive edge.
The future belongs to organisations that recognise automation not as a replacement for human talent, but as a bridge to operational stability in an uncertain environment.
Take action today
Companies ready to eliminate waste, streamline recruitment processes and cut costs can experience these benefits firsthand.
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