These are the 10 best job skills to have in South Africa, and the 10 worst



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The World Economic Forum has released its report The Future of Jobs 2020, which looks at how demand for certain types of jobs is expected to change in the coming years.

For the past five years, the forum has tracked and identified the potential scale of the displacement of workers globally, due to automation and technology growth.

“At the center of the report and its analysis is the Future of Jobs survey, a unique tool that assesses short-term and long-term trends and the impact of technology adoption on labor markets,” said the WEF.

This allowed the forum to track technology adoption among global companies alongside changing job requirements and demand for skills.

“These qualitative survey responses are further complemented by granular data from new sources derived from private data that tracks key job and skills trends.

“Together, these two types of sources provide a comprehensive overview of developing labor market trends and also an opportunity to plan and strategize for a better future of work,” he said.

Rise of the machines

The WEF noted that over the next five years, tens of millions of jobs will be replaced by machines and automation, while millions of new jobs will emerge requiring new skills.

Using the results of its extensive survey, the WEF found that employers around the world expect increasingly redundant roles to decrease from 15.4% of the workforce to 9% by 2025 (decrease from 6.4% ), and that emerging professions will grow by 7.8%. to 13.5% (5.7% growth) of all employees.

Based on these figures, the group estimates that by 2025, 85 million jobs may be displaced by a change in the division of labor between humans and machines, while 97 million new roles may emerge more suited to the new. division of labor between humans. , machines and algorithms, in the 15 industries and 26 economies covered by the report.

“As in the 2018 survey, leadership positions in the growing demand are roles such as data analysts and scientists, artificial intelligence and machine learning specialists, robotics engineers, software and application developers, as well as transformation specialists. digital, “said the WEF.

However, jobs such as process automation specialists, information security analysts, and Internet of Things specialists are emerging recently among a cohort of positions that are experiencing increasing demand from employers.

“The emergence of these roles reflects the acceleration of automation, as well as the resurgence of cybersecurity risks,” the forum said.

The group identified the following 20 job skills as Increased demand for the next five years:

  1. Data analysts and scientists
  2. Specialists in artificial intelligence and machine learning
  3. Big Data Specialists
  4. Specialists in strategy and digital marketing
  5. Process automation specialists
  6. Business development professionals
  7. Digital transformation specialists
  8. Information security specialists
  9. Software and application developers
  10. Internet of things specialists
  11. Project managers
  12. Administration and Commercial Services Managers
  13. Database and networking professionals
  14. Robotic engineers
  15. Strategic advisers
  16. Management and organization analysts
  17. FinTech Engineers
  18. Mechanic and Machinery Repairers
  19. Organizational development specialists
  20. Risk management specialists

The following 20 job skills are likely to see decrease in demand over the next five years, in large part due to automation:

  1. Data entry clerks
  2. Secretaries of administration and executives
  3. Accounting, bookkeeping, and payroll clerks
  4. Accountants and auditors
  5. Assembly and factory workers
  6. Administration and Commercial Services Managers
  7. Information and customer service workers
  8. General and operations managers
  9. Mechanic and Machinery Repairers
  10. Stock keeping and materials registration clerks
  11. Financial analysts
  12. Postal service employees
  13. Sales, Wholesale and Manufacturing Representatives, Technology and Scientific Products
  14. Relationship managers
  15. Bank tellers and related employees
  16. Door-to-door sales, news and street vendors
  17. Electronics and telecommunications installers and repairers
  18. Human resource specialists
  19. Training and development specialists
  20. Construction workers

The WEF noted that a set of roles is distinctively emerging within specific industries.

This includes materials engineers in the automotive sector, e-commerce and social media specialists in the consumer sector, renewable energy engineers in the energy sector, fintech engineers in financial services, biologists and geneticists in health and healthcare, as well as scientists. and remote sensing technicians in mining. and metals.

“The nature of these roles reflects the trajectory towards areas of innovation and growth in multiple industries,” said the forum.

“At the opposite end of the scale, the roles that will be established to be increasingly redundant by 2025 remain largely consistent with the job roles identified in 2018 and in a variety of research papers on job automation.” , He said.

Some skills, such as mechanics and machine repairers, are rising and falling in demand when viewed in general, with demand growing in certain industries and decreasing in others, while also increasing and decreasing over the five-year period.

South Africa

The Future of Jobs 2020 report provides insight into the labor dynamics in South Africa, including jobs in demand and those that will become superfluous.

According to the report, process automation specialists, data analysts and scientists, and social psychologists will see a large increase in demand.

Other professions that are destined for growth include management and organization analysts, business development professionals, and big data specialists.

Fields that will be adversely affected include accounting, customer information and payroll clerks, and customer service workers.

South African job skills

The WEF findings largely reflect the latest on the most sought-after job skills in South Africa, putting software developers and engineers in high demand.

The latest CareerJunction Index shows that software developers, managers, and marketers are the most in-demand skills in the country right now, all included in the growing WEF demand list. These skills have been in high demand at CJI over the past year.

Similar data published by job site Adzuna also shows a high demand for engineers, software developers, IT specialists and analysts in the country.

The WEF’s findings are also in line with the South African government projections for job skills in South Africa through 2030.

The government has been preparing for the fourth industrial revolution, which heralds the era of robotics and automation, as well as the impact this will have on the demand for skills in South Africa.

To better prepare for this, the government wants to change the school’s curriculum to focus on developing skills in the fields of robotics, coding, and engineering.

He has committed to a ‘skills revolution’ that will give the country the human capital required for a digital economy, promising that more than one million young people will receive training in data science and related skills by 2030.

Through various support programs such as the South African Research Chairs Initiative and other targeted human capital development initiatives, the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) is developing essential capabilities in all technology areas that underpin the Fourth Industrial Revolution. .

These include programs in:

  • Data science and analysis;
  • Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies;
  • Additive manufacturing;
  • Artificial intelligence;
  • Robotics; Y
  • Quantum technologies.

Currently, young people are also being trained on:

  • Data science;
  • Production of digital content;
  • 3d print;
  • Cyber ​​security;
  • Drone piloting;
  • Software development; Y
  • Cloud Computing.

Read: These are the most in-demand job skills in South Africa right now



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