Youth unemployment in South Africa is sitting at a staggering 59.5% and the Covid-19 pandemic has made the job market even thinner. There are various reasons that contribute to youth unemployment, including population increase, a lack of experience, inappropriate ways of searching for a job, and a lack of career guidance in schools.
Not having the right in-demand skills also contributes to unemployment. This blog will focus on the skills you need to get employed.
According to the most recent data provided by jobs specialists CareerJunction, the following fields of employment are now the most in-demand skill sets in the job market. This information is based on an analysis of data from the CareerJunction website, where roughly 3,000 of the country’s best recruiters post job openings to millions of registered job searchers.
1. Software development: Software developers build, install, test and maintain software systems. Since January, there has been an increase in demand for software developers. Demand climbed by 38% between January 2021 and May 2021.
2. Department/middle management: Middle managers are on the level between senior and junior managers. Department managers are still in high demand. Demand for middle and department managers surged by 76% year on year.
3. Sales representative/consulting: The job of the sales representative is to sell services or products for a specific company. The demand for sales representatives is steadily increasing. Demand for sales consultants has increased by 69% since May 2020.
Trending jobs
The following hot jobs, according to CareerJunction, indicate roles that have become more popular in the online job market and have seen a recent increase in demand.
Business Analysis
What does a business analyst do? They work with companies and organisations to improve their systems and processes. This includes identifying and researching solutions to problems.
The average salary offerings for an intermediate level position are:
Gauteng: R45,694 to R56,104 p.m.
Western Cape: R42,910 to R53,247 p.m.
Representative / Sales Consulting
The average salary offerings for an intermediate level position are:
Gauteng: R15,067 to R22,253 p.m.
Western Cape: R17,427 to R22,476 p.m.
KwaZulu-Natal: R15,067 to R21,167 p.m.
Software Development
The average salary offerings for an intermediate level position are:
Gauteng: R48,442 to R65,604 p.m.
Western Cape: R45,012 to R56,685 p.m.
KwaZulu-Natal: R42,755 to R55,882 p.m.
Sectors with the most jobs
According to CareerJunction, high online demand suggests healthy employment trends.
The following five sectors showed good employment prospects in the most recent online hiring activity:
• Information Technology
• Business Management
• Sales
• Finance
• Admin, office and support
CareerJunction says that the most sought-after areas are IT, business and management, and finance, followed by sales, administration, office & support, and architecture and engineering, among others.
Now, gaining skills in these fields doesn’t guarantee you a job as you will be competing with several other job seekers. However, this will ensure that you align your skills with what is in demand in the job market and give you better prospect at finding employment!
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