Event contribution to employment

This section explores the Festival‟s contribution to employment creation and shares the perceptions of residents, established businesses, venue owners and the event organiser.

Small and Edwards (2006:2) note that festivals and events allow people to engage with the public by means of “volunteering, leisure activities, and opportunities for social transactions”.

Residents were therefore requested to disclose whether they had worked or volunteered at the Festival. This question was only posed to residents that were aware of the BOWF. Of those who were aware (n=267), 83.2% indicated that they had never worked or volunteered at the Festival, while 16.8% stated the opposite. Thus, Joubert (2012:31) advises established businesses/venue owners to reduce leakages by rendering services from local businesses and employing local people from the region, and this could be applied to the BOWF.

Residents had to further clarify their job descriptions if they were or had been previously employed by the Festival. Table 4.3 shows the job descriptions of residents who were employed or had been employed by the BOWF. Most residents who were employed at the event (64.4%) merely had general tasks such as giving directors to visitors, car guards and babysitters. Secondly, residents were also employed within the hospitality sector: (17.8%) as waiters, chefs and kitchen staff. Furthermore residents worked as cleaners (8.9%) and stallholders (8.9%). The employment positions of respondents who worked or volunteered at the event were low-level positions and were either permanent or temporary positions.

Table 4.3: Job descriptions of residents who worked or volunteered at Festival (in %, n=45)

Job descriptions Number of respondents %

General tasks at the event 29 64.4

Hospitality 8 17.8

Cleaning staff 4 8.9

Stallholder 4 8.9

Total 45 100.0

For established businesses, the creation of employment opportunities is an important benefit that events may generate. However, 81.8% of the established businesses did not employ additional staff for the duration of the Festival. This could imply that the businesses did not need additional labour and were able to manage with the current workforce. Only 18.2%

employed additional staff to assist. The number of employees varied from two, five and twelve at a time. Most (50.0%) businesses made use of five employees followed by two (25.0%) and twelve (25.0%). The job descriptions ranged from drivers (25.0%), restaurant and cleaning staff (25.0%) and security and waiters (50.0%). It is clear that the employment generated provided work opportunities in menial positions and not in more professional occupations.

As the official hosts, the venue owners were the most likely stakeholders to employ additional staff for the duration of the event. However the results strongly confirmed otherwise. Only 18.2% of the venue owners employed additional staff to assist for the duration of the Festival. Most venue owners (81.8%) did not make use of additional staff, and in all probability managed with the available workforce. The results thereby verify that the event does not create employment for additional staff and only makes a small contribution towards job creation.

Among those venue owners that employed additional staff for the duration of the event, the number of employees employed ranged from 2–36 as illustrated in Figure 4.24. The size of the demand for additional staff depended largely on the nature and scale of the business as well as the activities available. Small businesses may require less demand for an additional workforce compared with larger establishments with plenty of activities hosted during the event. Even though events have the potential to employ additional staff, this may be futile if the event employs individuals from another province or region and not the host destination/

town. It is imperative that the BOWF, a locally hosted event in the Breede Valley, employ people from this region to stimulate local economic growth and development.

Figure 4.24: Total additional employment during Festival (in %, n=9)

Figure 4.25 illustrates (in frequencies) that five (n=5) venue owners employed additional staff from Rawsonville. Two (n=2) venue owners indicated that they employed individuals from Rawsonville as well as other towns in the Western Cape, one (n=1) from towns in the Western Cape province and one (n=1) employed staff from Rawsonville and other towns within the BVM. The results verify that most employees are indeed from Rawsonville and as a result stimulate local economic growth and development within the town.

According to the event organiser, no additional workforce was employed to assist with the planning, organising and implementation of the event.

Figure 4.25: Location of additional employees by venue owners (in frequencies, n=9)

The preceding section provides a comparison between the event organiser, venue owners and established businesses with regard to the creation of employment. The Festival‟s ability to create employment opportunities is a fundamental consideration and it is important to verify whether additional staff was employed for the Festival.

11,1

Employment creation

The event organiser did not employ any additional employees as mentioned previously; this is not unexpected, as the activities conducted were undemanding and merely created the platform for the venue owners. However, the venue owners and established businesses had to be prepared for the influx of event attendees to their establishments and event venues. To prevent problems of short staffing, both venue owners and established businesses employed additional workers.

Nine venue owners who participated in the study employed additional staff. These venue owners had a range of activities and a full programme, suggesting that additional staff was required. Four established businesses employed additional staff for the duration of the Festival. The established businesses did not host activities at their premises as the venue owners did and as a result there was less need for most businesses to employ an additional workforce. The four businesses that did were relatively popular, in all likelihood couldn‟t cater for such a huge influx of event attendees with their current workforce or needed specialised skills that required additional staff. It is evident that both stakeholders employed an extra workforce, but the number of individuals required varied considerably. This is understandable, bearing in mind that the venue owners are the official hosts of the Festival and offer a range of activities and entertainment, while established businesses merely offer accommodation, food or transport for visitors.

In total, venue owners employed 98 individuals (83.8%) compared with the 19 (16.2%) employed by established businesses as highlighted in Figure 4.26. This makes the venue owner a larger source of employment. Nevertheless, both stakeholders employed additional employees that were placed in menial positions.

Figure 4.26: Number of additional employees (in %, n=117) 16,2

83,8

Established business

Venue owner