First South African Women Entrepreneurs Job Creation Survey reports optimistic green shoots — Lionesses of Africa

The South African Women Entrepreneurs Job Creators Survey data was collected online from 913 women entrepreneurs in South Africa between November 23, 2020, and April 28, 2021, and informed by a further 150 qualitative interviews of women entrepreneurs during the same period. Participants were recruited through the Lionesses of Africa network, to represent a wide range of business types, sizes and sectors. The survey was an opportunity for South Africa’s women entrepreneurs to share their experiences with job creation and how COVID-19 affected it and revenue generation. Respondents also shared their post-COVID-19 outlook for their businesses and their experiences with accessing government assistance programs and external financing during the pandemic.

The survey provides valuable insights into both solo entrepreneurs who are creating jobs for themselves and those entrepreneurs with employees. The employing women entrepreneurs who participated have on average, 29 employees, whereas the ‘typical’ or median entrepreneur employed five staff, while the top 1% had a thousand or more employees. The majority of companies with employees hired their first employee early in the life of their business, 67% within the first year. This would indicate that women entrepreneurs are not only creating jobs, but doing so in the very early stage of their company’s life-cycle.

In terms of future hiring plans, among the entrepreneurs who employ staff, over a third considered current staffing levels to be inadequate for their needs and 41% were actively recruiting. Of those who were hiring, 73% reported that they were hiring to help meet demand, 12% to bring additional skills into the business, and 12% were hiring, or rehiring, to replace employees who had left or were let go.