Who’s hiring? These are South Africa’s most ‘in-demand jobs’ right now

South Africa has been hit by a jobs bloodbath in 2020, as an already-battered economy barely weathered the storm of coronavirus. However, Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande isn’t throwing in the towel anytime soon – and he’s released a list featuring hundreds of jobs and industries in South Africa that are in urgent need of applicants.

Employment opportunities in South Africa

The ‘high-demand jobs list’ reflects where workers are needed most, and what roles have the highest amount of ‘availability’. According to Nzimande, it highlights the work undertaken by the department, through its Labour Market Intelligence research programme, to support human resource development in the country:

“This list is updated every two years and marks an important step towards helping us understand better the needs of the labour market, and signals opportunities where our students and graduates are likely to stand a better chance of finding employment. These occupations are from [a range of] skills levels.”

“In addition to the use of a range of statistics for the compilation of this list, we had broad, as well as deep stakeholder engagements regarding which occupations are in high demand. Too many students rush into courses or programmes that we’re not short of in South Africa and are oversubscribed, which is breeding unemployment.”

“The list is only one of several elements in our skills planning arsenal. As a department, we have also researched and identified those occupations that may require skilled personnel to be recruited from outside of South Africa.”

Blade Nzimande

Workers needed: The full list of ‘in-demand jobs’

Nzimande himself identified ‘the top 14 specific areas’ that are ready to take on new workers, with SA looking to chart a course out of lockdown and towards a brighter future. As of November 2020, the most in-demand jobs in South Africa are:

• Roles in the digital economy.
• Work in the energy industry.
• Infrastructure development.
• Manufacturing positions.
• Tourism and agriculture posts.
• Data scientists.
• Web developers.
• Computer network technicians.
• Electrical engineers.
• Concentrated solar power process controllers.
• Mechatronic technician toolmakers.
• Gaming workers.
• Crop produce analysts.
• Agricultural scientists.

The full list contains 345 roles and industries in total – you can view every single ‘in-demand job’ here.