When unemployment is kicking people in the teeth, a first job that does not pay much can still be a blessing.
It puts money in someone’s pocket, gives them experience and, most importantly, gets their foot in the door.
That does not mean employers can pay people peanuts and call it opportunity.
But it does mean we should look at entry-level salaries in context instead of shouting “exploitation” every time the number looks small.
A friend once asked me to share a job advert on my social media pages.
It was for a junior graphic designer earning R5,000 a month.
I shared it without thinking too hard. To me, it looked like a small business trying to give someone a chance, and in this economy, that is not nothing.
Then the comments came. One friend said the salary was exploitation. R5,000, he argued, was far too little for someone with creative skills.
And he was not the only one.
Many people feel any salary below a certain level is disrespectful, especially when the job requires talent, training or a degree.
His point made me stop and think.
But it also made me look at the bigger picture, because the reality for job seekers and small business owners in SA is not as simple as people make it sound on social media.
We all know the numbers.
Unemployment is still painfully high, especially among young people. Millions wake up every day with no job, no income and no experience.
At the same time, small businesses are under pressure from every side. Electricity is expensive, supplies cost more, customers are spending less and many owners are just trying to keep the lights on.
So when a small business hires its first employee, a small salary offer is not necessarily a sign of greed or exploitation.
Sometimes it is a sign that the business is finally growing.
It means the owner has taken a risk and decided to trust another person with part of the dream. That is not small.
Of course, let us not pretend every low salary is innocent.
There are employers who underpay workers while making good money, and those people deserve to be called out.
But let’s not treat every small business like a big corporation with deep pockets.
And then there is the issue seldom talked about properly: experience.
Many graduates leave school or university expecting a salary that the market simply cannot support.
Employers, on the other hand, want experience from people who have never been given a chance to work.
That is the age-old trap. Young people cannot get experience because they cannot get jobs, and they cannot get jobs because they do not have experience.
That is why the first job matters so much. It is not only about the money at the end of the month.
It is about learning how to show up, deal with clients, meet deadlines, solve problems and build something you can put on your CV or portfolio.
A junior graphic designer earning R5,000 is not stuck there forever.
If that job teaches them the ropes, sharpens their skills and opens better doors, it can be the first rung of the ladder.
That said, let us be honest: there is a limit.
Nobody should be expected to survive forever on a salary that cannot support a decent life. Workers deserve fair pay, and businesses should do better as they grow.
A low-paying job should be a stepping stone, not a life sentence.
But in a country where so many people are sitting at home with qualifications and no income, we should not act like every job offer is an insult.
A real job is still a real job. For a young person trying to enter the labour market, that first chance can mean everything.
The challenge is not choosing between jobs and decent pay. SA needs both.
The bigger question is how we build an economy where small businesses can hire more people and pay them better as they grow.
Until we deal with that, we will keep fighting over job adverts while millions remain unemployed.
Sometimes the problem is not the low-paying job. It is no job at all.
Buzani is a business consultant and youth empowerment advocate, as well as a founding member of an award-winning SME and of the vibrant Mdantsane entrepreneur network Kasi Konversations
Daily Dispatch
