You Can’t Save Your Way Out of Poverty

The 2025 Jem HR Deskless Worker Pulse report paints a stark picture of the “two economies” operating within South African businesses. Based on deep research into the lives of the country’s frontline workforce, it reveals a demographic defined by resilience and ambition, yet crippled by spatial apartheid, dangerous commutes, and financial fragility.

An executive event hosted by Jem HR last week brought together industry leaders to discuss how they can make the changes needed to give our deskless workforce the support – and salaries – they need. They urged South African executives to stop ignoring the reality of the people who keep their businesses running. 

The dichotomy of the deskless worker 

“South Africa is about its people, and 97% of the people we surveyed say they love their work,” says Simon Ellis, CEO of Jem. “But we cannot ignore the disconnect. While corporate head offices operate in a digital, safe bubble, the frontline—the engines of our economy—are living a completely different reality.”

Caroline van der Merwe, chief product officer at Jem, describes the findings as a “dichotomy of sincere hope and deep despair”. 

“We are seeing incredible resilience and ambition,” explains van der Merwe. “But the structural challenges are immense. Our data shows that 48% of deskless workers run out of money before payday every month. Transport costs are devouring up to 70% of income for some. We heard stories of women taking up to eight taxis to get to work, fearing for their lives in the dark, just to arrive on time.”

You can’t save your way out of poverty

A major theme of the event was the inadequacy of traditional financial wellness advice. Koshiek Karan, founder of Banker X, challenged the corporate tendency to lecture low-income earners on budgeting. 

“We need to stop telling people they are ‘bad budgeters’,” Karan argues. “You cannot lecture people about money if they don’t have money. You cannot save your way out of poverty. There is a history of labour exploitation and fiscal disparity here. When people are constantly trying to fill a gap every month, financial literacy training isn’t the silver bullet – paying people properly is.”

Structural fixes over band-aids 

Chris Lister-James of Fitech Ventures highlighted how even well-meaning benefits often fail the poor.

“We found that in some mandatory provident funds, up to 50% of the employer and employee contribution was being eaten by administration costs,” says Lister-James. “We need to rigorously interrogate these financial products. By switching to more transparent solutions, we’ve seen cases where contributions to actual savings improved by 80%.”

The power of visibility 

Despite the hardships, the report found that 39% of workers feel motivated, and many are desperate for growth. However, 25% believe it is impossible to be promoted, largely because they are “invisible” to head office. 

Karen Hammond, Group Head of People at Meridian, shared how digital connection changes this trajectory. “We have merchandisers and reps who previously relied on clunky systems. By opening up digital communication lines, we make talent visible. I worked with a cleaner with huge potential to help upskill her. She now holds a BCom and works as an accounts controller. In three years. That only happens when you look for talent from the bottom up.” 

Hammond says Meridian is using the insights it gets from being able to communicate with its people digitally to implement practical changes, including medical insurance to prevent workers from losing wages due to long clinic queues, and a new provident fund starting in January.

Restoring dignity

Dr. Frank Magwegwe, senior lecturer at GIBS, closed the discussion by calling for a return to human-centric leadership.

“We stereotype the deskless worker,” says Dr. Magwegwe. “We don’t learn their stories. We assume they chose their positions. But until you know the story of the person who leaves home at 4am and walks through dangerous areas to serve your customers, you don’t know your own company. Tech like Jem brings dignity back to the deskless worker, but leaders need to do the work of being interested.”