FINAL WORD
Fighting South Africa ’ s tech skills gap with solutions that deliver value
Alison Palmer , Head of HR at Dariel Software , suggests three considerations to enhance the environment for graduates to develop their work experience in IT .
The global IT skills shortage is real and not going away . According to a May 2022 McKinsey report , an overwhelming majority of companies worldwide ( 87 %) are aware that they either already have a skills gap or will have one within a few years .
Closer to home , horrifying unemployment figures and international research that shows skills shortages are among the most significant business risks facing South African organisations . It is clear more needs to be done to create an enabling environment for young people to find work .
According to the South African 2021 JCSE-IITPSA ICT Skills Survey : “ The COVID-19 pandemic has given an enormous boost to Digital Transformation in many sectors . Who would have imagined 18 months ago that millions of South Africans would be working online , buying their groceries , visiting doctors and appearing in court via digital platforms ? Our society – or at least that part of it that has decent connectivity – has gone digital and huge opportunities have arisen for companies and professionals that make this all possible .”
Tackling systemic issues
Even though it may be tempting to blame the education environment , the problem is much more systemic than that . For instance , tertiary institutions spend a lot of their
74 INTELLIGENTCIO AFRICA www . intelligentcio . com