Employment equity- a concept that seems to be staying in South Africa for a while. Thousands of white educated (tertiary) people are leaving the country every year. Granted there are some other factors which contribute to this(the lure of forex etc.), but employment equity has to be one of the biggest. I understand that this is a neccessary program to take place to right previous inequities, but how relevant is it in entry level positions? I am presently trying to find job in South Africa now that I have recently finished post graduate studies. Entry level positions in my field (marketing) are not easy to come by for anybody, but as a white male my problems are made worse. Looking in the paper, online etc there are jobs that I often think I would be well suited to. The problem is that these jobs are affirmative action only (I am still trying to find out if this stipulation for the filling of a position is unconstitutional). If somebody was offered a job ahead of me because of ability, good for them, But not even considering me because I am a white male makes me understand the flow of people out of this country. My biggest problem with Affirmative Action for entry level positions is the fact that there are so many people of colour graduating every year from tertiary institutions. I was definately one of the minority at my university. So is the stipulation of AA necessary, ahead of ability to do the job???
