Nicola Mawson|Published
Looking for a job in South Africa costs an average of R490 a month, even for people who have no income, with transport costs preventing some unemployed candidates from attending interviews.
This is according to JOBJACK’s 2026 Job Seeker Report, which examines the experiences of 867,706 people who registered on the recruitment platform between 1 July 2025 and 31 July 2026.
During that period, the new users submitted 4,919,035 job applications, but only 6,566 were appointed through the platform, equivalent to approximately one appointment for every 132 registrations.
The report also draws on a voluntary survey of 5,087 platform users, including 4,073 unemployed respondents and 1,014 who were employed.
It finds that job hunting comes with substantial expenses before a candidate has earned a cent, including transport to interviews, printing CVs and documents, and purchasing mobile data.
Among unemployed respondents, 62.4% spend between R51 and R300 a month printing CVs and other documents, while 42.2% report having no other income. The report estimates that job seekers spend an average of R490 monthly on transport, printing and data combined.
When the taxi fare decides
Transport is one of the biggest obstacles. Among unemployed respondents who admitted to missing an interview, 36.4% say they had no money for transport, while another 15% cite distance or travel difficulties.
Overall, 8.7% of unemployed survey respondents acknowledge accepting an interview invitation but not attending.
JOBJACK’s head of research and development, Ashleigh Nel, says employers risk mistaking financial hardship for unreliability. “Affordability should never be the screening test for someone’s suitability for a role,” she says.
Nel notes that candidates may be excluded before employers have had an opportunity to assess their suitability simply because they cannot afford to reach the interview venue.
The problem does not necessarily disappear when someone secures employment. Among employed survey respondents, 57.2% travel to work by minibus taxi, while 54.6% spend at least R800 a month on transport.
The report finds that 73.8% of employed respondents earn no more than R6,500 a month, meaning commuting expenses can absorb a substantial share of their income.
For some workers, the cost of travelling to work can approach a third of their monthly salary.
The experience trap
Beyond the financial burden, the report identifies previous work experience as a major factor determining whether applicants secure employment.
Candidates with a work history have an appointment rate 11 times higher than those who have never worked.
That creates a familiar problem for first-time job seekers: employers want experience, but candidates cannot acquire it without being given their first opportunity.
However, JOBJACK’s data also suggests employers do not always need to insist on previous experience.
Of the candidates appointed through the platform between January and July 2026 to positions advertised as requiring prior experience, 41% did not meet the stated experience requirement.
The company says alternative screening methods, including assessments of candidates’ skills and abilities, helped employers identify suitable applicants.
Still looking for a future
Despite the difficulties, the report finds that job seekers are not necessarily prepared to accept any position simply because it is available.
Among unemployed respondents, 82.4% identify opportunities for growth as an important consideration when accepting employment, compared with 37.2% who select salary.
Growth opportunities are also important to 74.3% of employed respondents. Almost half of unemployed respondents, 48.2%, report searching for work for more than a year.
Asked to describe how job hunting makes them feel, 58.4% use at least one negative word, while 44.7% use at least one positive word. Hope is nevertheless the most frequently identified individual sentiment, mentioned by 22.3%.
JOBJACK co-founder and CEO Heine Bellingan argues that employers need to reconsider recruitment practices that impose unnecessary costs on applicants. He questions why job seekers are still expected to print CVs, travel to submit applications or attend multiple interviews for positions paying minimum wage.
“Job seekers can’t fix your hiring process; you have to fix it,” he says.
The report’s findings are specific to JOBJACK users seeking store-level employment and are not representative of all South African job seekers.
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