South Africa is currently suffering a major skills and demand gap in the job sector, which means universities aren’t churning out enough graduates in a number of key fields to meet the demand in the working world.

Among these skills are Java developing, developing, php developing, web developing and financial accounting – the top five most sought out skills by recruiters, according to job search engine, Adzuna.

Over 130,000 online job listings, thousands of search requests from job seekers, and data about the total amount of talent available was used to determine what the rarest skills in South Africa’s job market look like today.

In the data compiled, Adzuna found that while most of the skills that were high in demand in 2016 are still sought-after in 2017, even more so when it comes to industries such as software development, which has a high demand but a low supply of candidates with competent skills.

From the 2017 report findings, it’s evident that roughly 70% of the rarest skills fall under the technical and development industries. Other industries that are targeting rare skills include consultancy, managerial, and financial fields. Adzuna’s findings correlate with the latest South African Science, Technology and Innovation Report of 2016, clearly indicating that a lack of skills can loosely be blamed on SA’s inability to make any real progress in math and science education and skills development.

“Though the data only analyses online job advertisements, the number of observations is high enough to draw a conclusive inference – South African companies are increasingly struggling to find technical skills,” said Jesse Green, country manager at Adzuna South Africa.

“While there are various ways of finding and pinpointing the rarest skills in South Africa’s job market, it’s evident, across the board, that the technology industry is really hot and happening right now. It will be interesting to see how the South African Government and employers work together in a bid to try and employ the right people (and skills), competent enough to bridge the gap between demand and supply of South Africa’s rarest skills,” Green said.

[Image – CC Public Domain]