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Johannesburg among the best cities to work in a startup

If you want to launch a startup company‚ then Johannesburg is the place to be.

The city came in at number 71 in a study comparing the top 85 cities worldwide to work in a startup industry. City ratings were issued this week‚ with Singapore sitting on top of the list.

The study was conducted by Nestpick‚ a furnished apartment platform operating in different parts of the world‚ to indicate which cities offer the best quality of life for people employed in a startup.

Assessment criteria involved five elements: salaries‚ social security and other benefits‚ quality of life‚ cost of living and the city’s startup ecosystem.

City of Johannesburg deputy director of communication Nthatisi Modingoane said the position Johannesburg finds itself is encouraging‚ but there is a lot of space for improvement.

“Johannesburg is still a baby when compared to cities like Singapore‚ but we can get to their level. We are doing our best to address issues of cleanliness‚ hijacked buildings and skills shortage.

“We have several business programmes meant to assist entrepreneurs and help boost the city’s economy.

“Investors are interested in Johannesburg because it has the potential to be number one‚” said Modingoane.

Aisha Pandor‚ co-founder of SweepSouth‚ said Johannesburg could move up the ranks if the country’s economy improved.

“The country’s economy plays a critical role on how companies structure their benefits. The weakening rand is a challenge for all of us. With a stronger rand many startups can be able to offer competitive benefits and social security packages for their employees.

The Johannesburg-based company was started three years ago. It offers cleaning services to private home owners and companies in Johannesburg‚ Pretoria‚ Cape Town and Durban.

The company employs more than 3 000 domestic workers and services can be requested digitally.

Cities ranked in the top 10 are Singapore‚ Helsinki‚ San Francisco‚ Berlin‚ Stockholm‚ Tel Aviv‚ Zurich‚ Seoul‚ Humbug and Toronto.

The report indicates that San Francisco has the highest salaries across all industries studied for both entry level and experienced positions.

It also shows that Cairo has the lowest salaries in entry level‚ while Tunisia has the lowest salaries in experienced posts.

In the social security and benefits bracket‚ Dubai has the best score for income tax but ranks last for equality.

Lagos took the last spot in the cities to work in. The study reveals that Lagos offers the worst social security and benefits‚ with the lowest healthcare quality and vacation days.

In a statement issued by Nestpick‚ the organisation’s managing director Omer Kucukdere cautioned that certain cities may offer bigger paychecks but after considering taxes and living expenses the return may not be so high.

 

 

 

 

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