These are the most in-demand jobs in South Africa right now
New data from jobs portal CareerJunction shows overall hiring activity has increased compared to last year and revealed the most in-demand jobs in South Africa right now.
The company’s latest Industry Report showed that compared to the year before, August 2023 marked a 3% increase in hiring, while activity increased by a notable 6% compared to July 2023.
According to the group, this was mainly a result of increases in hiring activity in the Business & Management, Medical & health, and Building & Construction sectors. However, the report added that there was a decline in hiring activity in the Information Technology and Admin, Office & support sectors.
The report offers an in-depth analysis of the online employment market in South Africa, focusing on the supply and demand for various occupations.
The data for the report was gathered from 5,000 of the country’s largest recruiters, agencies, and employers who advertise job positions on the CareerJunction portal.
When comparing hiring activity over the last three months (June, July, August 2023) with the previous three months (March, April, May 2023), CareerJunction reported there is an uptake in recruitment for Building & Construction, Medical & Health professionals, as well as Business & Management professionals:
Building & Construction (+22%)
- Building Project Management
Medical & Health professionals (+21%)
- Nursing / Professional Care Giving
- Medical Assistance & Support
Business & Management (+3%)
- Executive Management / Director
- Middle / Department Management
The Information Technology and Admin and Office & Support professionals sectors have seen the biggest decline in hiring activity over the past three months, reported CareerJunction.
Information technology (-3%)
- Software development
- IT project administration / management
- Database design/development / administration
- Data analysis/data warehousing
- Business analysis
Admin, office & support (-4%)
- Teller/ cashier
- Human resources
- Switchboard/ Reception
- Secretary
- Admin clerk
Regional differences
CareerJunction also reported that recruitment per province in South Africa remained static.
The group said that Gauteng still offers the majority of South Africa’s job opportunities (54%) as the economic hub of the country.
The following 30% of job offers are in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal combined. The Western Cape has the second largest percentage at 21%.
In Gauteng, demand for business and management professionals grew year-on-year to June-August 2022. Since August 2022, however, hiring activity has remained at the same level.
The Eastern Cape and Western Cape have both seen slow but consistent growth in hiring activity for Business and management professionals from June 2021–August 2023.
Regarding information technology, across Gauteng, the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape provinces, demand for IT professionals increased significantly until August 2022.
However, CareerJunction reported that since August 2022, hiring activity in this sector has decreased year-on-year. Gauteng has seen a decline of 8%; the Eastern Cape has seen a decline of 5%, and the Western Cape has seen a decline of 17%.
Architecture & Engineering
CareerJunction further highlighted significant job opportunity growth, mostly in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
It reported that scarce skills in the sector include:
- Industrial Engineer
- Plant Engineer
- Electrical Engineer
Some market-related salaries applicants can expect in the field include:
- Mechanical engineer – (R42,648 to R57,018 per month)
- Process engineer – (R43,363 to R54,330 per month)
- Draughtsman – (R23,452 to R31,097 per month)
Read: Big win for business and government’s plan to save South Africa
Loading ...
