Zuko Komisa
- Despite salary increases averaging 5.43%, employee financial distress remains high as workers withdraw retirement savings at near record levels.
- Remchannel MD Lindiwe Sebesho highlights that pay rises alone are insufficient to alleviate economic pressure, prompting a shift in how corporate benefits are structured.
- Employers are urged to implement integrated, high-impact reward and well-being strategies to better support workers navigating the “two-pot” retirement system withdrawals.
Despite average salary increases of 5.43%, employees are continuing to experience severe financial pressure, evidenced by individuals withdrawing their retirement savings at near-record levels.
The widespread reliance on “two-pot” retirement system withdrawals exposes deepseated economic vulnerabilities within the workforce.
To address this growing instability, employers should go beyond basic salary reviews and adopt integrated, high-impact reward strategies.
Kaya Biz with Gugulethu Mfuphi spoke to Remchannel Managing Director Lindiwe Sebesho, who has warned that relying solely on annual pay rises is no longer enough to ease the ongoing cost of living crisis.
According to Sebesho, these trends indicate that traditional compensation models are failing to provide long-term financial security, forcing a fundamental shift in how employee benefits are perceived and structured.
“We have released our latest report on salary and wage movement. From a salary increase perspective, the actual salary increases are averaged at 5.43 %, and the outlook is also still positive at 5.11% this is what employers are willing to increase salaries by in the next 12 months. You would expect that we are okay, but unfortunately, that is not the case, as from a financial well-being perspective, people are really under strain,” said Sebesho,
Sebesho emphasises that fostering genuine worker well-being requires a holistic approach that combines financial education, flexible benefits, and targeted support mechanisms.
Listen to the full conversation here:
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The post Beyond the pay check: Why SA workers remain under financial strain appeared first on KAYA 959.
