Tech in Africa
A 2020/21 Critical Skills Survey Report, conducted by Xpatweb on data used by stakeholders influencing policies touching on critical skills and use of foreign expertise. The survey cuts across a wide range of corporate companies and multinationals across South Africa in an effort to determine the pressure points and the issues that human resource and global finance practitioners face when sourcing skilled individuals.
The most sought-after professions are: app developers, data scientists, data analysts, software engineers, software developers, digital skills, IT program managers, and network architects. The demand for IT skills is so dire that companies are hiring inexperienced employees.
According to a 2019 survey, by IITPSA, South Africa is currently experiencing a shortage of ICT professionals. The top ‘hard-to-fill’ occupational vacancies in the media, information, and communication technology sectors are software developers, ICT systems analysts, computer networks and systems engineers, Multimedia designers, ICT security specialists, Advertising specialists, Telecoms network engineers, data designers and administrators, and Programmer analysts.
Many times employers across South Africa are blamed for overlooking local talent, instead opting for foreign nationals. Despite the high demand for the aforementioned skills, employers are unwilling to risk the integrity of their operations with inexperienced staff.
Xpatweb’sreport is available for free download on its website.
