A first job has to offer more than a first payslip

Entry-level roles may carry lower salaries than experienced roles, but employers should not mistake lower pay for low investment.

Recruitment, onboarding, training, supervision and productivity ramp-up all carry a cost, and that investment can be lost when young employees are not effectively integrated into the workforce or leave before they have had time to become productive.

“South Africa’s youth unemployment rate of 45.8% should be a call to employers to invest more intentionally in young talent,” says Lindiwe Sebesho, Managing Director of Remchannel. “Entry-level salaries may be modest, but the value of a first job depends on more than what it costs. Employers need to ask whether these roles are helping young people become productive, develop the right skills and see a future in the organisation.”

The April 2026 Remchannel Bi-Annual Salary and Wage Movements Survey, based on data from 42 organisations representing 414 244 employees, shows that matriculants with no prior experience earn an average total package of R11 733 a month, while apprentices earn an average basic salary of R8 385, while vacation students earn R8 659.

But Sebesho says employers often assess entry-level roles mainly through the lens of payroll affordability, rather than considering how young employees fit into the organisation’s future talent pipeline.

Turnover makes low-paid roles more expensive than they look
“A lower salary does not make turnover cheap if the business is repeatedly spending time and money on recruitment, onboarding, training and lost productivity,” says Sebesho. “A weak first offer may still fill a vacancy in a high-unemployment economy, but employers should ask whether that role is building the capability required for sustainable performance or simply ticking social responsibility boxes.”

The risk is visible in Remchannel’s labour turnover data. Turnover, excluding temporary staff, rose to 17.8%, up from 13.5% a year earlier, while resignations accounted for 31% of exits, with better opportunities and pay cited most often. Consistent with previous trends, terminations at the semi-skilled and unskilled levels remain high and, combined, account for just under 70% of all terminations.

Using Remchannel’s conservative replacement-cost assumption of 1.5 times annual salary, replacing a matriculant with no prior experience on an average total package of R11 733 a month could represent a cost of about R211 200. For apprentices and vacation students, the annualised replacement cost would be about R150 900 and R155 900, respectively.

Yet fewer than one in four organisations regularly track employee turnover costs.

“For employers, the message is not that pay does not matter. It does,” says Sebesho. “But if a young employee leaves before they have become productive, the employer loses more than a salary line. It loses the time, training, management attention and institutional knowledge that went into getting that person started.”

Skills development protects the investment
As AI and digital tools change work, employers cannot assume that young people will arrive fully prepared for entry-level roles that are themselves changing.

“There will still be entry-level jobs, but perhaps the skills required for those entry-level jobs will be different,” says Sebesho.

That means training, reskilling and career growth need to be treated as part of the employee value proposition from the start.

“Employers cannot expect young people to be fully ready for jobs that are themselves changing,” says Sebesho. “If AI is changing the work, then learning has to change with it. Training and reskilling are part of why people join, stay and grow.”

For employers, Sebesho says structured onboarding, mentoring, exposure to new technology, financial education and clear next steps should be treated as business investments, not soft benefits.

“A young employee may accept a lower-paid role if it offers experience, training and a visible path to grow,” says Sebesho. “But if the role offers low pay, little learning and no clear next step, the employment relationship starts with frustration rather than trust.”

The companies that stand out will not necessarily be those that spend the most, she says, but those that are clearest about what they offer and most intentional about how young people grow once they are inside the organisation.

“First jobs need fair pay plus a structured experience: onboarding, training, mentoring, growth and a reason to stay,” concludes Sebesho. “The question is whether the role is structured to help young people become productive, build skills and see a future in the organisation. Pay may get them through the door, but the total employee value proposition determines whether that investment pays off.”