CareerJunction’s latest Industry Report shows that there are 13 professions in high demand coupled with limited or scarce talent pools, and they pay anywhere between R27,100 and R90,000 per month in South Africa.

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 (August, September, October 2023) with the previous three months (May, June, July 2023), there is an uptake in recruitment for Architecture & Engineering (+8%) as well as Cleaning, Maintenance & Repair (+5%) and Marketing professionals (+4%).

However, although Admin, Office & Support saw a slight uptick in October, over the same three-month period, the Admin, Office & Support saw a decline of 9% in hiring.

This was followed by the Information Technology sector (-6%) and the Business & Management sector (-4%).

Critical jobs needed and how much they pay

The Department of Home Affairs periodically releases a Critical Skills list, which aims to attract foreign professionals with locally scarce skills into South Africa to resolve economic bottlenecks resulting from skill shortages.

There have been three updates made to the Critical Skills list over the last two years: February 2022, August 2022, and – most recently – October 2023.

In addition, South Africa has recently launched the Trusted Employer Scheme, which allows South African registered operational companies to potentially benefit from simplified visa applications, accelerated visa processing times for skilled foreign workers, and support from the dedicated Trusted Employer Unit within the Department of Home Affairs.

Considering this, CareerJunction analysed the latest recruitment trends over the last six months to investigate the latest professions that are in the highest demand with limited or scarce talent pools.

CareerJunction provided insight into the level of demand for each skill by province, categorising them as very high, high, medium, low, very low, or hardly any demand.

The portal also noted important data such as the professions’ work-from-home opportunities and market-related salaries.

According to the report, job sectors most affected by skill shortages are:

• Information Technology;
• Finance;
• Engineering; and
• Medical & Health.

Within these sectors, the 13 most in-demand jobs suffering skill shortages and what they pay, as well as where in South Africa demand is concentrated is listed below.

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#1 Software Development – R40,000 to R60,000 per month

Software Development professionals are in very high demand in Gauteng and the Western Cape and in high demand in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.

There is very low demand for these professionals in the Free State and North West.

Software Developers, Programmer Analysts and Developer Programmers are on the Critical Skills list.

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#2 Technical / Business Architecture – R65,000 to R90,000 per month

Technical / Business Architecture professionals are in high demand in Gauteng and in medium demand in the Western Cape.

There is very low demand for these professionals in KwaZulu-Natalv. Applications Programmers are on the Critical Skills list.

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#3 Database Design / Development / Administration – R45,000 to R65,000 per month

Database Design / Development / Administration professionals are in high demand in Gauteng and in medium demand in the Western Cape.

There is very low demand for these professionals in KwaZulu-Natal. Database Design / Development /
Administration professionals are not on the Critical Skills list.

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#4 Actuarial Management / Administration – R62,948 to R74,834 per month

Actuarial Management / Administration professionals are in medium demand in Gauteng and the Western Cape.

There is very low demand for these professionals in KwaZulu-Natal. Actuaries are on the Critical Skills list.

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#5 Taxation – R30,900 to R39,800 per month

Taxation professionals are in high demand in Gauteng and in medium demand in the Western Cape.

There is very low demand for these professionals in the Eastern Cape. Tax professionals are on the Critical Skills list.

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#6 Systems Analysis – R40,000 to R50,000 per month

Systems Analysis professionals are in high demand in Gauteng and in medium demand in the Western Cape.

There is very low demand for these professionals in KwaZulu-Natal. ICT Systems Analysts are on the Critical Skills list.

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#7 Financial Analysis – R40,000 to R54,083 per month

Financial Analysis professionals are in high demand in Gauteng and in medium demand in the Western Cape.

There is very low demand for these professionals in KwaZulu-Natal. Financial Analysis professionals are not on the Critical Skills list.

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#8 Civil / Structural Engineering – R41,667 to R65,833 per month

Civil / Structural Engineering professionals are in high demand in Gauteng and in medium demand in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

There is very low demand for these professionals in The Free State, North West, Northern Cape, and Limpopo. Civil Engineers are on the Critical Skills list.

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#9 External Auditing – R33,333 to R44,000 per month

External Auditing professionals are in medium demand in Gauteng and the Western Cape.

There is very low demand for these professionals in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. External Auditors are on the Critical Skills list.

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#10 Nursing / Professional Care Giving – R27,100 to R46,000 per month

Nursing / Caregiving professionals are in high demand in Gauteng and the Western Cape and in medium demand in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.

There are six types of Registered Nurses on the Critical Skills list:

• Intensive / Critical Care nursing;
• Mental Health (psychiatric) nursing;
• Peri-operative nursing (Theater technique);
• Emergency nursing (Trauma);
• Child nursing (Paediatrics); and
• Midwife Specialist.

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#11 Data Analysis / Data Warehousing – R40,000 to R60,000 per month

Data Analysis / Data Warehousing professionals are in very high demand in Gauteng, in high demand in the Western Cape, and in medium demand in KwaZulu-Natal.

There is very low demand for these professionals in the Mpumalanga. Data Scientists are on the Critical Skills list.

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#12 Business Analysis – R41,667 to R60,000 per month

Business Analysis professionals are in very high demand in Gauteng and in high demand in the Western Cape.

There is very low demand for these professionals in the Eastern Cape. Business Analysis professionals are not on the Critical Skills list.

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#13 Investment Management – R36,500 to R42,500 per month

Investment Management professionals are in high demand in Gauteng and the Western Cape.

Investment Analysts, Investment Managers and Investment Advisors are on the Critical Skills list.

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