Labor market in Eswatini

The labour force consists of people who are working or actively available and seeking work. The absorption rate measures the share of the working-age population that is employed. These indicators describe access to work more clearly than unemployment alone because they also show how many people are outside the labour force, including discouraged job-seekers and others who are not currently working or seeking work. The latest public headline figures show persistent structural underuse of available labour. The 2025 Labour Force Survey reported an employment-to-population rate of 33.5%, unemployment of 33.5%, youth unemployment of 26.8% among people aged 15 to 24, and 49.6% of the working-age population outside the labour force. Detailed publicly available structural data are mainly from the 2023 survey. That survey recorded 793,614 working-age people, a labour force of 402,909, 260,356 employed people, a labour-force participation rate of 50.8%, an absorption rate of 32.8%, 74,855 long-term unemployed people, 30,984 people in time-related underemployment and 33,049 discouraged job-seekers. Unemployment rose from 33.3% in 2021 to 35.4% in 2023, followed by a slight improvement by 2025. The detailed 2023 figures and the 2025 headline indicators are not interchangeable. Services accounted for about 68% of employment in 2023, industry for 17% and agriculture for 13%. Wholesale and retail trade and vehicle repair represented 17.9% of employment, manufacturing 16.6% and agriculture, forestry and fishing 14.1%. Construction accounted for 6.5%, transport and storage 4.2%, education 3.8%, health and social work 2.8%, accommodation and food services 1.7%, information and communication technology 1.8% and finance and insurance 2.2%. Between 2021 and 2023, employment increased strongly in transport, manufacturing, construction, education and agriculture, while mining, accommodation and food services and household employers recorded declines. Work is divided among formal units, informal units and households. In 2023, formal units accounted for 47.6% of employment, informal units for 46.3% and households for 6.0%. Informal employment totalled 146,293 people, or 56.2% of all employed people. Common informal occupations included services and sales, elementary work, skilled agriculture and craft work. Women were especially represented in services and sales, where they held 42.7% of employment compared with 19.7% for men. Formal and informal work can differ in written terms, social protection, pay records, training access and enforcement of workplace standards. The four regions are Hhohho, Manzini, Shiselweni and Lubombo. Manzini contained 37.8% of the labour force, Hhohho 23.3%, Shiselweni 20.3% and Lubombo 18.7%. The 2023 absorption rate was highest in Manzini at 39.1%, followed by Lubombo at 36.4%, Shiselweni at 27.7% and Hhohho at 26.4%. Unemployment was 39.9% in Hhohho, 30.9% in Manzini, 42.7% in Shiselweni and 30.9% in Lubombo. Urban absorption was 44.7%, compared with 26.7% in rural areas. Jobs involving foreign-born workers were strongly concentrated in Manzini. Rural-to-urban movement therefore affects where vacancies, competition and services are found, although the reviewed sources do not establish a complete current outmigration stock. Qualifications do not guarantee a matching job. In 2023, 56.8% of the labour force had lower-secondary education, 19.4% primary education, 9.0% a bachelor's degree, 10.6% a master's degree and 3.0% no schooling. Employed occupations included services and sales at 25.3%, elementary work at 21.3%, professionals at 11.3%, craft work at 10.6% and plant and machine work at 10.5%. Research identifies skills mismatch, including mismatch among people with higher education and management skills. Priority fields for 2023 to 2027 include agriculture and agro-processing, information and communication technology, data, cloud services, cybersecurity, software and artificial intelligence, engineering and technology, health, education and science, technology, engineering and mathematics, tourism and hospitality, environment and energy, and manufacturing. Training and competence pathways include universities, colleges, technical and vocational education and training, industrial training, apprenticeships and trade testing. An apprenticeship combines theory with workplace learning and may have a registered contract lasting up to five years. A trade test validates competence gained through formal or non-formal training. Grade 3 covers semi-skilled work, Grade 2 skilled work and Grade 1 highly skilled work. Access requirements reported for trade testing include a minimum age of 18, at least three years of trade experience for Grade 3, an additional 18 months after Grade 3 for Grade 2 and an additional 30 months after Grade 2 for Grade 1. Recognition of prior learning is functionally available. Relevant providers include the University of Eswatini, Limkokwing University, Eswatini Medical Christian University, Southern African Nazarene University, Eswatini College of Technology, Gwamile-VOCTIM, Botho and IDM. The Ministry of Education and Training oversees formal technical and vocational education, while the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and its Directorate of Industrial and Vocational Training handle industrial training functions. Eswatini has no single national minimum wage. Regulation of Wages Orders apply by sector. Examples from the 2024 orders include E74.67 per day for general, seasonal and stockman agricultural workers, E111.90 for agricultural watchpersons and E174.60 for agricultural artisans. In urban retail, monthly examples include E2,126.09 for a general labourer, E2,343.56 for a shop assistant and E2,671.54 for a cashier. In domestic work, monthly examples include E1,488.37 for a cook and E1,717.35 for a caregiver or driver. Rates can be lower in other areas. Wage orders also address written employment particulars, working hours, overtime, leave, maternity and nursing rights, protective equipment and access to unions. The applicable order and job classification need to be checked rather than applying one rate to every worker. Job matching is supported by the National Employment Services, which includes units for human-resource planning, employment statistics, scholarships, industrial and vocational training, vocational training and rehabilitation, training and localisation, and measurement. The Labour Market Information System is intended to provide laws, reports, statistics, vacancies and job-seeker services in one place, with a target of twelve-month reporting. Its 2024/25 annual report found that vacancy and job-seeker forms were weakly used and that the system remained underused. Public, private and non-governmental employers can use formal matching channels, as can local citizens and eligible foreign workers. Foreign workers require a separate migration and access assessment. In 2023, 9,775 employed people were foreign-born; 66.6% were in Manzini, 19.4% in Hhohho, 11.4% in Lubombo and 2.6% in Shiselweni. Eswatini launched a National Labour Migration Policy in 2025 covering safe, orderly and regular labour migration, migrant welfare, diaspora matters, data and cooperation among ministries and social partners. A work-permit and temporary-residence application may require an employer cover letter, evidence that the post was advertised, police clearance, qualifications, medical evidence and incorporation documents. Immigration and localisation vetting assess whether the required skill is unavailable locally. The service charter gives indicative processing stages of submission within 30 minutes, vetting within three days, committee review within one week and an outcome within one week. Fees and tariffs require local verification. The Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the National Employment Statistics Unit, the Central Statistics Office, the Department of National Employment Services, the Directorate of Industrial and Vocational Training, the Industrial and Vocational Training Board and immigration authorities each cover different parts of the system. A useful labour-market assessment therefore compares the region, sector, qualification, employment form, pay order, training pathway and work-authorisation position instead of relying on one unemployment figure.