There is no doubt that South Africa faces a skills crisis, especially when it comes to digital knowledge that will revolutionise the world. Yet, sourcing international professionals to fill the local digital skills gap is not sustainable in the long run, writes Ursula Fear, Salesforce senior talent programme manager.
THE list of critical skills South Africa needs to fill is long, and just some of those include skill sets in engineering, physics, chemistry, geology, and veterinary science.
The list of 142 desperately needed talents also highlights the need for filling positions for Chief Information Officers (CIOs), call centre managers, IT systems analysts, data scientists, software developers, and programmer analysts, among other Information and Communication Technology (ICT) roles.
The catalogue of needed talent, published by the Department of Home Affairs in a gazette in October last year, has a common thread throughout: most of them require qualifications in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields of study. The fact that there is demand for ICT skills is not in question.
A new training approach
The resolution to address youth unemployment and the skills crisis lies in how we train youth before they enter the workplace. Professional ICT certifications are not enough to meet the rate of change needed in the workplace.
As a result, companies that hire young people with real life practical skills enables young people to be applicable and relevant with the appropriate digital skills.
The 2022 JCSE-IITPSA ICT Skills Survey, the latest available, noted that, in 2019, there were many stakeholder groups implementing solid skills development initiatives to improve the capability and employability of young people. However, the report said, only hundreds of candidates benefited instead of the thousands that need to go through these programmes.
Future demands
In the ICT sector, our biggest focus must be on the talent that South Africa urgently requires. Collectiv X published a list of demand-led digital skills which includes AI engineers, data scientists, automation engineers, cloud engineers, and big data developers to name a few. This information is confirmed by the 2022 JCSE-IITPSA ICT Skills Survey, which lists similar jobs for the sector but also includes a need for cyber security, artificial intelligence (AI) specialists, forensic investigators, and app developers.
While we need AI specialists to help solve local technology challenges, we need to ensure that these specialists are empowered to implement rapidly, monitor, and ensure best security practices when it comes to AI. The world is moving towards one in which AI will be pervasively integrated into business systems and processes. With that comes an increased risk of cyber-attacks, and the future will require knowledgeable IT professionals who can implement solutions, especially if South Africa is to be globally competitive.
Yet, Salesforce research has indicated that more than 60% of full-time desk workers do not have the skills to use generative AI technology – even though most of them are convinced this knowledge will advance their careers.
As a result, training the next generation, as well as reskilling the current generation when it comes to AI, is a key component of the tech revolution.
We need to act urgently to mitigate the fact that we don’t want to have too many certified yet unemployable young people entering the workforce.
