BPESA reveals aggressive 500K job plan for South Africa’s GBS sector
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA — South Africa’s global business services (GBS) sector has launched an ambitious new value proposition, aiming to attract more foreign direct investment and generate 500,000 cumulative jobs by 2030. Revealed on March 18, 2025, the initiative by BPESA (Business Process Enabling South Africa) follows a remarkable expansion in the sector, tripling in size over only five years.
Excellent growth trajectory
With the total workforce rising from 65,000 in 2019 to an estimated 150,000 in 2024, the South African GBS sector has shown wonderful expansion. Market revenue skyrocketed from US$1.04 billion to an estimated US$2.91 billion (about ZAR 53 billion) within the same period.
“We believe the sector’s unique blend of cost-effectiveness, talent and infrastructure and its proven track record of success, competitiveness and maturity in this market will continue to attract foreign direct investment to our shores and drive inclusive growth for the country,” said BPESA CEO Reshni Singh.
With a 55% share in terms of personnel, the United Kingdom is still South Africa’s biggest source market, while the U.S. market has expanded significantly from just 1% in 2019 to 33% now. Important markets for South African GBS operations now also include Australia and European nations like Germany, France, and the Netherlands.
Strategic benefits and government backing
Six strategic pillars define the updated value proposition, as covered in detailed research commissioned by BPESA and compiled by Everest Group. These pillars draw attention to South Africa’s competitive strengths: government support, a great reservoir of young, trainable, English-speaking talent, and sophisticated ICT infrastructure.
“The GBS sector has become a powerful engine for inclusive economic growth and has the South African government’s committed support. As outlined in the latest budget speech, the sector’s competitiveness will continue to be enhanced through various incentives programmes under the dtic,” Singh explained.
With government incentives further lowering operational costs by 7–10%, South Africa provides 55–65% cost savings over source regions such as Dallas, Manchester, and Sydney. Strategically, the industry has developed outside of big cities, including Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg, into Tier 2 and Tier 3 sites, including Soweto, Alexandra, Mitchells Plain, and George.
With 90% of new hires being young and more than 30% coming from homes where no one was previously employed, Singh said, “Impact sourcing is changing the lives of previously unemployed youth and equipping them with comprehensive training, in-demand skills, and sustainable career pathways.”
Through a regional hub-and-spoke delivery architecture, the sector stays positioned as a strategic entryway to African markets even as it moves toward higher-value services such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cybersecurity.
