Workforce Holdings swings into a loss as Covid-19 hits job numbers

Employment services company Workforce Holdings swung into a loss in its half-year to end-June, as Covid-19 shuttered parts of the economy and reduced demand for staff.

Workforce, which provides staffing, outsourcing and training services, reported a loss of R14m, from profit of R41.2m previously, but said it was seeing a return to normality as South Africa’s lockdown eased.

Covid-19 had resulted in Workforce only operating businesses classified as essential services.

This resulted in an immediate and substantial decline in turnover, aside from the health-care cluster, which continued from March to June.

“Workforce started to see a recovery and is now operating at a much higher level of utilisation of its services,” the group said.

“The drop in turnover was successfully countered by temporary and permanent cost saving measures, a renewed focus on debtor collections, delaying creditor payments where possible as well as fully utilising government-initiated relief measures,” the group said.

“Management believes that the pandemic triggered a chain of actions which has enabled a stronger and more sustainable Workforce business,” the statement read.