Jobs in Gauteng

Wikipedia explains that Gauteng ranks highly from an economic standpoint. This is because it contributes heavily to sectors such as the financial (it is home to Africa’s largest stock exchange, the JSE), as well as manufacturing, transport, technology, and telecommunications. On the latter point, companies such as Vodacom, MTN, Neotel, and Microsoft South Africa have their head offices in the province, and it is home to the world’s largest Porsche centre in Sandton.

Impressively, Gauteng is responsible for at least a third of SA’s gross domestic product (GDP), generating about 10 percent of the total GDP of the entire sub-Saharan African region, and easily seven percent of Africa’s total GDP.

>Jobs in high demand in Gauteng range from an administrative or office assistant and a restaurant manager, to a field service operations manager, a process or electrical engineer, a digital marketing manager, an HR director, a data analyst, and a software developer.

The median salary per annum in the province is approximately R305ksome sources say R400k per annum), which is significantly higher than the median per annum salary within any other SA province.

Highly desirable companies to work for in the province include the likes of the big five banks (FNB, Nedbank, Absa, Standard Bank, and Capitec), as well as Investec; IT companies like Dimension Data; medical care providers or hospital groups such as Netcare; insurance offerings of varying kinds (including medical aid) such as Discovery Holdings, Old Mutual, Sanlam, Hollard, and Alexander Forbes; consulting firms like Deloitte, Ernst and Young, and PricewaterhouseCoopers; retail giants like Massmart; global mining companies such as Anglo American; entertainment companies like Multichoice; energy providers like Eskom; telecommunications greats such as MTN and Vodacom; and educational companies like Curro Holdings.

Impact housing firm LiveEasy offers up three dynamic reasons to make the move to a city or town in Gauteng.

Firstly, there are more job opportunities, by volume, across industries in this province than anywhere else in SA.

Next up, being the country’s main economic hub means that there is an impressive concentration of wealth in Gauteng; so, you are likely to earn significantly more here in your field, than you could do anywhere else in SA.

And, lastly, you’re unlikely to ever be bored when living in Gauteng – because there’s always something cultural, or sport-related on the go, for everyone across tastes and age groupings.

Life is considered totally fabulous in Gauteng, despite the common complaints of potholes, water stoppages, and sad/mad/bad taxi drivers.

CSI Property Group says it like it is, by describing the fact that Gauteng is “home to an array of museums, galleries, cultural icons, theatres, historical sites, shopping malls, and live music venues”. If you’re a newbie in the province, they advise, try a lifestyle market on the weekend (e.g. Rosebank Sunday Market, Fourways Farmers' Market, Bryanston Market, or Irene Village Market); take your kids to Gold Reef City, the Sci-Bono Discovery Museum, or one of Gauteng's many parks or nature reserves; shop up a storm at one of the many impressively sized and air-conditioned malls in your vicinity, or at a bit of a distance if the impetus takes you; or take in a bit of history at the Cradle of Humankind or the Pretoria Monument.

The foodie scene is increasingly diverse and tantalising, from Ethiopian, to Greek, Eastern and then some; summers are warm and wind-free, while winters are moderate and rain-free; and its pretty easy to get around via Uber or your own vehicle on the “sophisticated network of highways” – meaning you are able to enjoy the vibrant cosmopolitan vibe on offer in most of the province, which includes an impressive range of “parks, botanical gardens, nature reserves, and hiking/mountain-biking trails”.

You certainly will! (See ‘What are the reasons that individuals, and families, relocate to Gauteng’, above.) However, to make sure it happens on your relocation schedule, be sure to sign up on a job portal such as Executive Placements – where you can add your CV so that you’re ready to press ‘apply’ when an opening crops up that you are keen to take on.

Importantly, check out the below roles that are currently on offer across the province:

• engineering jobs, such as a technical lead: water design engineer (exact location unspecified), or an electrical engineer (Nelspruit);
• finance jobs, such as a commercial finance manager (Midrand), or a chief financial officer (Johannesburg);
• medical jobs, such as a unit manager: theatre and surgical ward (Heidelberg), or a dentist interested in joining a private practice (Alberton);
• HR jobs, such as an employer relations liaison in the petroleum industry (Sandton);
• farming jobs, such as an agronomist (Johannesburg);
• sales and marketing jobs,such as a senior marketing manager (Greenstone/Modderfontein), or an assistant to the sales team/sales coordinator (Kempton Park);
• retail jobs, such as an operations controller (Brakpan), a storeman: raw materials (Randburg), or a retail sales assistant: Ackermans (Vereeniging).

The word from Seeff, one of SA’s most established real estate brand, and according to an article on Bizcommunity (Property) dated November 2024 – is that Gauteng’s rather ‘stagnant’ property prices make the province one of the country’s best-value property markets in which to enter at the current time (and this applies, even if you are looking to buy at the celebrity-level luxury end of the market).

Reasons? Well, the latest interest-rate cut means property buyers will find prices very similar to what they would have seen about two years ago (i.e. in 2022). Additionally, Gauteng is known to cater heavily to entry-level buyers, who tend to move to Gauteng’s metropolitan areas in search of the high-paying and divers job opportunities mentioned above; together with the attraction of the excellent schools, colleges, universities, and sporting/fitness facilities that such residential areas offer in volume (or close by).

Without analysing the province’s different regions in too much detail, Lightstone, a valuable organisation that provides wide-reaching information, valuations, and market intelligence on SA properties, has shared data that reveals the following:

• 50 percent of freehold houses in Gauteng are priced at below R1.1 million;
• 75 percent of freehold houses are priced below R1,5 million;
• five percent of all sales require a payment of R3 million or below;
• the average sectional-title price is R780 000;
• the average freehold house is R1.7 million;
• the surplus stock in certain areas is resulting in even better deals than those mentioned above (i.e. on the East Rand).

Eagle Canyon Estate, in Roodepoort, features luxury homes in the R4.9m to R6.5m range; while Northcliff is offering up stunning homes in its property pages priced at between R4.5 and R8 million. This is probably a steal for the security and internal finishes they offer, not to mention the external facilities (private and communal).

While you and your partner may feel relaxed about sending a junior school child, or one who is younger, to the neighbourhood school, SchoolHive advises that parents have a look over the secondary schools in Gauteng with a very high pass rate.

Consider Kempton Panorama, Supero Private Combined School, Balmoral College, Die Heuwel Christian School, Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool, and Hoërskool Menlopark – all of which boast a 100 pass rate for their matriculants in 2024.

• The name Gauteng comes from the Sesotho word for “place of gold”, however, Gauteng also has sizeable deposits of platinum, chromite, iron ore, and uranium.
• Although the province has six UNESCO World Heritage sites in total, the most valuable one to visit is probably the Cradle of Humankind (mentioned above as an enjoyable leisure activity). This paleoanthropological site, located approximately 50km northwest of Johannesburg, is home to the world’s largest known collection of human ancestral remains. Read more about what you can experience, here.