Safeguard Jobseekers’ information from scammers

In the face of rising unemployment, many job seekers in our country turn to employment agencies to find opportunities aligned with their qualifications and experience. While these agencies play an essential role in connecting people with potential employers, they often lack adequate data security, exposing jobseekers to threats from scammers and dangerous criminals, including kidnappers and rapists.There has has been circulating allegations on social media about job portals leaking the job seekers informations to unauthorised third parties which in turn send the applicants instant messages inviting them to interviews.These messages often appear unprofessional, containing spelling mistakes, strange abbreviations, unknown phone numbers, and suspicious locations .There is however no clear indication as to whether the information is directly leaked or it is issues related  to poor security measures of the job portals.

Our youth, desperate for any employment opportunity, are frequently less cautious about verifying job offers due to their urgent need for work. When receiving interview invites, whether through email or SMS, their excitement often overshadows any concern about the legitimacy of these offers. Jobseekers trust that the platforms and portals they use are safe, making them especially vulnerable.

South Africa faces severe issues related to human trafficking, violence, and unemployment. Weak security on employment platforms exacerbates these issues, failing to protect jobseekers and even putting them at risk. The escalating kidnapping rate reflects the crisis; in the 2022/2023 financial year, StatsSA reported 15,343 [1].These statistics do not however reflect the cases related to job seeking ,but a country with such sever kidnapping issues then more regulation enforcement is necessary .In 2021, a 35-year-old mother was invited for a supposed job interview at Tyger Valley Mall, where she was abducted and assaulted by her captors [2] .While in 2022, three jobseekers responding to fake job ads in Tzaneen, Limpopo, were kidnapped, robbed, and stripped [3].Such cases reveal the urgent need for protective measures, as our current system puts individuals at risk of life-altering trauma and harm.

The Employment Services Act (ESA) aligns with POPIA by regulating the processing of jobseekers’ personal information. Under the ESA ,Personal data processing by Private Employment Agencies (PEAs) must protect jobseekers’ information and uphold their privacy.Information collected must be relevant to the jobseeker’s qualifications, experience, or other pertinent job-related details.A PEA may only share jobseekers’ information with prospective employers when relevant to job qualifications or as permitted by law.PEAs may disclose information to the Department of Labor or other state organisations when required by legislation [4].

This  regulation underscore the responsibility of employment agencies to handle job seekers' information with the highest standards of confidentiality, limiting data use to protect against unauthorised access and misuse.Therefore the department of labour and employment should ensure that all the job agencies abide by this clause at all times in order to protect job seekers from exploitation and harm.

No one expects to face kidnapping, assault, or any form of crime simply by attending a job interview. The use of employment agencies should facilitate jobseekers’ pursuit of work, not leave them vulnerable to exploitation by fraudsters or criminals.

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