Skills shortage in critical sectors in South Africa

Skills Shortage In Critical Sectors In South Africa

/in , /by

The group released its financial results for the full year ended February 2022, noting a tense operating environment in South Africa, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, power outages and social unrest.

Revenue for the year fell 1.7% to R11.5 billion (2021: R11.7 billion), although gross profit from continuing operations increased 7.0% to reach 1.2 billion rand.

Total aggregate earnings per share increased to 99.4 cents per share (2021: 34.2 cents per share), and the company declared a dividend of 47.0 cents per share (2021: 0).

Adcorp offers recruitment and staffing services in various sectors in South Africa and Australia. Its operations are divided into 15 different divisions to manage each sector. In addition, it offers industrial and professional staffing solutions, as well as training.

“At the start of fiscal 2022, the business environment remained constrained due to customer pressure to cut costs and streamline employees due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic,” he said. he declares.

“Slow economic growth and persistent electricity supply and infrastructure issues in South Africa have had a negative impact on economic growth and, therefore, the demand for casual labour. Demand was further negatively affected by the July unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng.

These issues have impacted the group’s casual labor operations as well as its functional outsourcing division, although it expects them to recover as it pivots its products to be more in tune with the changing environment.

For example, the group’s engineering, construction and energy brand, Cynergy, has been repositioned to serve the emerging renewable energy sector – but the full effect of this decision will not be seen until fiscal year 2023, he said.

Its professional services have also been hit hard, Adcorp said, with revenue falling as South Africa’s economic recovery stalled and demand for its services fell. Many client projects remained on hold, he said, resulting in lower contingent and contract resource requirements.

Notably, Adcorp said skills shortages in critical areas continued, particularly among nursing and IT resources, affecting its medical brand, Charisma, and its IT brand, Paracon.

“Nursing shortages have had a negative impact on the Charisma business, although a focus on nurse retention and a pivot to contract Covid-19 and vaccine services has helped to mitigate the effect,” said he declared.

Looking ahead, the group said it expects much the same for fiscal 2023, but with at least some recovery.

“Adcorp expects the slow recovery in South Africa to continue through fiscal 2023 and remains concerned about rising inflation, high unemployment and continued failures in infrastructure and service delivery. services. We have seen the first signs of some recovery in permanent and contingent demand,” he said.

Skills shortage

Adcorp’s reports are linked to the findings of several recruitment firms and the government itself.

Data from specialist expat company Xpatweb showed that engineering skills are among the most in-demand skills in South Africa. Employers are looking for highly qualified engineers with many years of experience.

Also included are technologists and technicians in specific fields of engineering. However, these professions will need to register as professionals in their field with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA), which is the statutory professional body regulating this industry, he said.

According to Altron, emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and automation are rapidly changing the business landscape, and cybersecurity and cloud migration are more urgent than ever. Yet the pool of professionals in this field is limited and employers struggle to fill IT skills. gap, with demand exceeding supply.

The group noted that the most in-demand skills among IT professionals in South Africa include everything related to cloud, data engineers, DevOps engineers and Java developers.

On the nursing front, Adcorp’s data reflects the critical shortage of medical professionals recently raised by Health Minister Joe Phaahla.

The minister noted that the country has a doctor-to-patient ratio of 1:3,198 (0.32:1,000), which is extremely low. Medical group Life Healthcare, meanwhile, said the country needed at least 26,000 more nurses to meet growing demand.

CONTACT US FOR ASSISTANCE
Let’s Talk Post Qualification Experience

Let’s Talk Post Qualification Experience

/in , /by

Jo-lene Da Silva VergottiniJo-Lene Da Silva-Vergottini Expatriate Solutions Advisor 

Permanent Residency Applications Pre-February 2022

Expatriates with foreign qualifications who obtained their Critical Skills Work Visa’s prior to the release of the new Critical Skills List, were allowed to progress to Permanent Residency once they were able to prove a minimum of 5 years post qualification experience. This allowed many foreign nationals who were highly experienced, to move to Permanent Residency immediately after they were issued their Critical Skills Work Visa.

It was considered satisfactory and in line with the requirements for the proof to be given in the form of a detailed, up-to-date Curriculum Vitae and reference letters from previous employers, however this is no longer the case.

Permanent Residency Applications Post-February 2022

As with many other changes, the Directive issued in March 2022 brought with it an additional requirement for those wishing to apply for Permanent Residency.

The Department of Home Affairs has now made it compulsory for all applicants applying for Permanent Residency under the new Critical Skills List to submit additional proof of verification of work experience. This proof will need to come from reputable organisations such as MIE or similar organisations, who will vet and provide written confirmation of the applicants’ experience.

What this means for applicants

This additional step has added to the already long list of information and documentation requirements, that will need to be submitted with their Permanent Residency applications. Not only does this step make the pre-submission process lengthier, but it also comes with an additional cost, which could frustrate the applicants even more so than before.

This new requirement is not only reserved for those who obtained their qualifications outside of South Africa but includes those who have South African qualifications. Proof of post-qualification experience was not required previously for those with South African qualifications, however with this addition it is now a compulsory requirement which has brought on further complications for these specific applicants.

Whilst it is not completely clear as to the reason Home Affairs have added this extra step, a possibility could be to ensure applications being submitted contain factual, vetted information. As of late, Home Affairs have been clamping down on corruption, specifically in their Immigration Permitting Department. This additional requirement could further assist them in in their cause, by ensuring that Permanent Residency is given to deserving, fully compliant and qualified foreign nationals.

Regardless of the reasoning behind the addition, it would be beneficial to those wishing to apply for Permanent Residency under one of the Critical Skills, to engage with a trusted and reputable immigration firm to guide them through the many steps and requirements, to ensure a positive outcome on their applications.

CONTACT US FOR ASSISTANCE