Business Talk – Ilana Bouwer on how Pnet can solve South Africa’s SME recruitment challenges

In this Business Talk interview, Ilana Bouwer, Pnet’s Head of Sales, joins Michael Avery to discuss the South African SME landscape and the challenges it faces.

Bouwer is an experienced professional in the IT and recruitment industry with a skill for building strong relationships with clients, customers, and colleagues.

She previously worked as the Team Leader for Life, Investment, and Health at Afken Financial Services before joining Pnet in 2011.

Bouwer has been part of Pnet for over 12 years, starting out as the Team Leader for Corporate Sales and then becoming the Sales Manager.

In 2018, Bouwer took the lead as General Sales Manager for Pnet, before joining Pnet’s Düsseldorf-based parent company, The Stepstone Group, as the Head of Sales in August 2023.

Interview with Ilana Bouwer

Bouwer begins the interview by explaining Pnet’s position in the recruitment industry and what it does.

She then talks about Pnet’s latest Job Market Trends Report and the interesting insights it contains.

Bouwer also discusses SME growth in South Africa, as well as the specific recruitment challenges that local SMEs face.

She highlights how Pnet can help these businesses with their recruitment challenges, and concludes the interview by unpacking how being acquired by The Stepstone Group has helped to grow the Pnet platform.

Watch the full Business Talk interview with Ilana Bouwer below.