David Campbell Francis

• Senior Researcher, Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, University of the Witwatersrand

David is a specialised labour-market economist, with experience in academic research and policy work. With over a decade of applied research experience, he has a deep interest in the world of work, and in harnessing academic research to tackle complex labour market challenges in the real world. His research and policy expertise focus understanding and addressing unemployment, and multidimensional inequality, in the South African labour market. He is currently Academic Head: The Future of Work, and manager of the Centre for African Industrialisation at the Toyota Wessels Institute for Manufacturing Studies (TWIMS). He holds a concurrent appointment as a Senior Researcher at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, University of the Witwatersrand. He has previously worked as a development consultant, and a policy and budget analyst at South Africa's National Treasury, where he worked in health and social policy. He has a PhD in economics from Wits University, an MA in development studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and a Bachelor of Social Sciences in economics and history from the University of Cape Town.

• 2026–present Academic Head: Future of Work, Toyota Wessels Institute for Manufacturing Studies
• 2026–present Senior Researcher, University of the Witwatersrand
• 2019–2026 Deputy Director Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, University of the Witwatersrand
• 2016–2019 Research Manager, University of the Witwatersrand

• 2023 University of the Witwatersrand, PhD Economics
• 2012 University of KwaZulu-Natal, Masters in Development Studies

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