Increasing unemployment rate amongst health professionals: Will there be jobs for newly graduated South African audiologists post-COVID-19?

Background:  Before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in early 2020, the unemployment rate in South Africa was at its highest in history at 29.1%. During the COVID-19 pandemic to date, unemployment rose even higher to 35.3%. In this context, there has been an increase in the number of unemployed health professionals in South Africa.

Objectives:  This study aimed to determine the employment rates of newly graduated South African audiologists and identify the challenges in obtaining and maintaining employment for audiologists in South Africa.

Methods:  A descriptive online survey design was used. Participants were recruited online through professional association webpages using the snowball sampling technique. All qualified audiologists registered with the Health Professionals Council of South Africa were eligible to participate.

Results:  A total of 132 audiologists completed the survey. In the first-year postgraduation, 16% of the participants were unemployed, and this increased to 19% in the second-year postgraduation. In the majority (81%) of employed participants, almost a fifth (19%) were working within non-audiology/healthcare fields. The most common workplace challenges reported were remuneration (37%) followed by lack of resources (18%), workload (18%), work environment (10%), working hours (9%) and, lastly, interprofessional relationships (8%).

Conclusion:  Findings from this study are the first to document employment rates amongst South African audiologists. These findings have the potential to influence the critical discourse on hearing healthcare human resource planning, hearing healthcare labour capacity and potential for growth in the South African context post-COVID-19.