Zululand needs more expertise
Nearly half a million jobs available, but a shortage of skills to fill them
AT present, there are currently 470 000 vacancies in the private sector, positions that could be filled almost immediately if the skills were available.
This is according to an analysis carried out by workforce management group Adcorp indicating the country’s skills development is ‘moving in the wrong direction’.
‘South Africa is characterised by a marked skills shortage,’ said the study.
Of nearly half a million work opportunities available nationwide, Adcorp stated 52% of them are in management and the remainder (37%) are for professional positions in accounting, law, medicine, engineering and finance.
This comes after news of a staggering 36 290 retrenchments recorded for January.
And Zululand has sadly mirrored this national dilemma.
Richards Bay recruitment agency ProStaffing Personnel Managing Director Paul Pereira affirmed that job applications have been mounting since January with local companies cutting costs through restructuring processes.
‘We are certainly seeing a surge in applications and enquiries from desperate job seekers in the last two months, which is an indication of jobs losses in the area,’ said Pereira.
‘There has also been a rise in the number of skilled and specialised vacancies compared to last year.
‘Compared to this month last year, there has been a 15% increase in the number of skilled job opportunities, while the number of people seeking skilled employment has fallen by a quarter.’
Pereira said while Richards Bay was once a boom town, areas outside uMhlathuze are now starting to show signs of increased hiring activity, pushing up salaries and attracting many experienced employees from Zululand.
‘Despite last year’s shift towards temporary staff, there was an emerging move by companies to take on more full-time staff, with demands for specific skills.
‘There are job opportunities across the board, but some specific skills are urgently needed such as marketing and office support as well as medical staff,’ Pereira said.
People are not willing to teech or train other people for the job I mean how are kids that have just finished school surpose to get jobs no one is willing to give us a chance to show that we can do the job . I have been looking for a job for 3 months now and still have nothing and I have experance in sales accistant but yet jobs want more than that.