How Long Does It Take to Hire Someone in South Africa?
By Mike Pollock-Vogelpath, Managing Executive | Executive Search & Operations, Pollock & Associates.
There is no single published average for how long it takes to hire someone in South Africa, because the time depends on the role, on how scarce the skills are and on the notice period the chosen candidate has to serve. The notice period is the one part you can predict, since it is set by law and by contract and it can add a month or more to the end of the process. A search that reaches an accepted offer in seven weeks can therefore still mean that the new employee only starts in eleven.
This article sets out the four stages of a hire, the legal minimum notice periods, a worked example with its assumptions stated, what usually slows a hire down and what an employer can do to shorten it.
What are the stages of a hire?
A hire moves through four stages, and each one has its own cause of delay. The first is the brief and the approvals, in which the employer agrees the skills required, the reporting line and the remuneration range, and confirms who will make the decision. The second is the search and shortlist, in which the recruiter identifies, approaches and screens candidates until a shortlist is ready to present. The third is the interviews and the decision, which includes the diary time of every person on the panel and the feedback that follows each round. The fourth is the offer and the notice period, in which the offer is made and accepted and the candidate serves notice at their current employer before starting.
How long is the notice period in South Africa?
Section 37 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act sets the minimum notice an employee must give. As summarised by Labour Guide, the periods are one week if the employee has worked for six months or less, two weeks if the employee has worked for more than six months but not more than a year, and four weeks if the employee has worked for a year or longer. A contract may set a longer period as long as it applies equally to the employer and the employee, so you should always ask the candidate what their own contract says.
A candidate who has been with their employer for a year or longer, which covers many experienced candidates, has a legal minimum of four weeks, and any longer period in their contract applies instead of that minimum. The notice period is also the stage in which a candidate may receive a counter-offer from their current employer, so an offer that is made quickly and a candidate who feels well looked after during the notice period both reduce the chance of losing them.
A worked example of a hiring timeline
The table below shows how the stages add up for a candidate who has been with their employer for more than a year and who has to serve the four-week statutory minimum. The stage lengths are an example chosen to show how the time accumulates and they are not a published average, so your own hire may be shorter or longer at each stage.
| Stage | Weeks in this example | Running total |
| Brief and approvals | 1 | 1 |
| Search and shortlist | 3 | 4 |
| Interviews and decision | 2 | 6 |
| Offer and acceptance | 1 | 7 |
| Notice period (four weeks) | 4 | 11 |
In this example the new employee starts eleven weeks after the brief was approved, and the same search would produce a start date in week eight if the candidate only had to serve one week of notice. The difference of three weeks comes entirely from the notice period, which is why it is worth asking about notice at the first conversation with a candidate and not at the offer.
For a sense of how quickly a tightly run process can move, Pnet reports a case study on its recruiter insights page in which it placed 25 roles for a medical scheme with a time to hire of 11 to 23 days. That is the result of a single client project, as reported by the provider, and it should not be read as a market average.
Why specialist roles take longer
The search and shortlist stage lengthens when the skills are scarce. The preliminary results of the Xpatweb Critical Skills Survey, reported on 22 September 2026, list engineers as the most frequently cited hard-to-fill skill at 29% of respondents, followed by ICT specialists and artisans at 25% each, and 53% of the participating companies said vacancies are constraining their business. When fewer suitable people exist, more of them have to be approached directly, and those who are employed need time to consider a move, which adds to the search stage. You can read more about when a specialist is the right choice in our guide on how to choose a specialist recruitment agency.
What slows a hire down?
The delays that cost the most are usually the avoidable ones. A brief that changes halfway through the search sends the recruiter back to the start, a panel that cannot find a common diary slot adds a week for every interview round, and a remuneration range that has not been approved when the first candidate asks about it stalls the offer. Slow or missing feedback also costs time, because a candidate who hears nothing may assume the answer is no and accept something else.
Year end needs particular care, because the public holidays on 16, 25 and 26 December make interviews and approvals harder to schedule, and a search that is still open in November can run into January even when the candidate pool is good.
How to shorten the process
Most of the time that can be saved sits with the employer. Agree the essential skills, the reporting line and the remuneration range before the search starts, book provisional interview slots for the panel while the shortlist is still being built, give feedback within a few days of each interview, and have the offer letter ready so that it can go out as soon as the decision is made. Ask each shortlisted candidate about their notice period early, and if the timing matters, raise with the candidate whether their current employer might release them earlier, which only happens by agreement between the two of them.
A recruiter who understands the role can also shorten the search stage, because a consultant who works in the discipline every day already knows who is worth approaching. Our consultants are listed on the Associates page, and employers who would like to talk through the timeline for a specific role can start on our Clients page or reach us through the Contact Us page.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to hire someone in South Africa?
There is no single published average, because the time depends on the role and on how scarce the skills are, and a notice period of one to four weeks or more is added after the offer is accepted, so a search of around seven weeks can easily mean that the new employee starts in eleven.
What is the legal notice period when an employee resigns in South Africa?
Under section 37 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act the minimum is one week for an employee who has worked six months or less, two weeks for more than six months but not more than a year, and four weeks for a year or longer. A contract can set a longer period if it applies equally to both parties.
Can a candidate start earlier than their notice period allows?
Only if their current employer agrees to release them earlier, so the question should be raised early in the process and not left until the offer is made.
Why do specialist roles take longer to fill?
Because there are fewer suitable candidates, more of them are employed and need time to consider a move, and the skills are in demand with other employers. The preliminary Xpatweb Critical Skills Survey results reported in September 2026 list engineers, ICT specialists and artisans among the most frequently cited hard-to-fill skills.
What is the biggest cause of delay in hiring?
Delays that sit with the employer, such as a brief that changes during the search, panel members who cannot meet, an unapproved remuneration range and slow feedback, are usually the largest and the easiest to remove.
Plan the timeline for your next hire
If you have a role to fill, one of our consultants can talk you through the stages and a realistic timeline for it.
