The skills shortage is no urban legend

Much has been written about South Africa's skills shortage. There is plenty of evidence supporting that the country is suffering from a dearth of skills in almost every professional field. Medical doctors and nurses, teachers and professors, engineers, accountants and specialised artisans are all in short supply.

Yet various sectors of our society perpetuate the notion that the skills shortage is a fallacy and that South Africa has more than enough educated individuals to fill the gaps. Top of this list is chairperson of the Commission for Employment Equity, Jimmy Manyi.

While briefing the National Assembly's labour committee in May this year, Manyi suggested that any skills shortage is mere urban legend and linked directly to racist employment practices. He believes that companies are simply not prepared to employ the available skilled individuals because they are black. His comments were dismissed as nonsense by many senior South African business executives and trade union Solidarity went as far as to request that Manyi be dismissed.

Maria Ramos, chief executive at Transnet, took a softer stance saying: "People often confuse the existence of people with degrees and qualifications with people with experience. Having many people that had graduated with an engineering degree does not mean having experienced engineers."

Tell it like it is

Fortunately there are those in the country who tell it like it is. The latest top economist to comment on the skills crisis is none other than Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni. Mboweni was addressing the Association for the Advancement of Black Accountants (Abasa) on Friday evening.

In an apparent broadside at Manyi's comments Mboweni was quick to mention some of the glaring skills shortages encountered in the field of economics. He mentioned the specific example of a shortage of teaching staff in the fields of econometrics and mathematical economics. "Are we satisfied that we have so few people with PhDs in economics? Then go around saying the skills shortage is an urban legend. It is not!"

"Ask me whether there is a skills shortage at the Reserve Bank," said Mboweni, inferring that there was indeed a shortage of skilled staff at the bank. And the bank is not the only area where the country has shortages. "Look at the number of engineers that we need and the number thereof. It is clear we have a skills shortage." These views are echoed by big businesses which come under increasing pressure to find the skills required for the country's giant infrastructure projects. At present these companies have to resort to recruiting the qualified individuals from overseas.

Disadvantage crossed the race barrier

Mboweni also commented on the notion that white women were not discriminated against and should thus no longer benefit from employment equity programs. He dismissed this concept as nonsense, saying that at the Reserve Bank "white women, although privileged, were discriminated against until 1996. They were not allowed to be part of the pension system," said Mboweni. Mboweni was Minister of Labour at the time the employment equity legislation was drafted.

South Africa has embarked on a process of social engineering which will take years to fully implement. It takes seven years to train a doctor or actuary and three to four years to complete the majority of degrees on offer. The mere act of completing said degree does not guarantee a successful engineer, accountant or architect.

If South Africa has a surplus of skills as Manyi claims, the likelihood is these skills are in the wrong field. Such skills are of no use until the individuals in possession of these degrees re-tool and ready themselves for action in another field. And unfortunately for the Bachelor of Arts graduate who wants to be an engineer or accountant, this often means starting at square one.

Editor's thoughts:
There is enough evidence to support the notion that South Africa is in the grips of a severe skills shortage. We would love to find out what skills are in high demand in the insurance industry. Is the current skills shortage only evident in areas like IT, actuarial and accounting, or are the effects felt across all levels of business? Send your comments to [email protected]