Employing right skills key to addressing infrastructure spend problem

A recent PPS survey conducted among approximately 600 South African engineers revealed a concerning average confidence level of just 40% when respondents were asked whether they felt government was effectively delivering on its promised infrastructure spend.

Key to addressing this concern is to employ the services of highly experienced engineers at a Government level to ensure the necessary roll out of infrastructure spend, says Manglin Pillay, Chief Executive Officer of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE). “Before Government spends money on projects, they should first look to populate its staff with experienced personnel who would be able to identify the correct way to distribute infrastructure spend. This is particularly important in the infrastructure departments where engineers have to deal with inappropriately qualified persons with insufficient experience when discussing tenders.”

Pillay explains that a lack of experience can make it more difficult for the department to roll out these projects, as they do not have the necessary knowledge and confidence to allocate the funds appropriately. “The best people for the job are those who have been entrenched in the industry for 15 years or more and are familiar with how to spend funds appropriately to ensure the completion of projects.”

Gerhard Joubert, Head of Group Marketing and Stakeholder Relations at PPS, the financial services provider focused on graduate professionals, says the survey results also point to concerns among engineers about the adequate training of young engineers. When asked whether they believe that the current engineering degree is training students sufficiently, 58% of respondents said yes.

“This is particularly concerning considering the findings of the Manpower SA ninth annual Talent Shortage Survey which revealed that engineers are the second most difficult job to fill followed by the trade sector. This means that the necessary skills to fill the vacant posts are simply not available, pointing to a problem at an education level for not training and mentoring the young graduates properly,” says Joubert.

Pillay agrees saying that there is a lack of money being spent on the education and training of engineering graduates. “Universities are not receiving enough funding for post graduate studies, which means that fewer engineers are being adequately trained and developed. This in turn results in young engineers being unemployed as they do not have the necessary technical skills for the job. This also affects lecturers, some of whom have not necessarily acquired the highest qualifications because of work pressure and lack of funds. It becomes increasingly difficult to find lecturers willing to join the academia because of inappropriate remuneration; thus affecting the quality of student education.”

However, it is encouraging to note that President Jacob Zuma recognised that increased investment into education and skills development is key for economic growth in his recent State of the Nation address to Parliament, says Joubert.

Skills development, however, seem to be focused on FET Colleges and not necessarily university level, where the priority scarce skills courses in South Africa are presented. The development of newly qualified engineering practitioners is also of critical importance.

Joubert points out that despite the concerns about education and infrastructure spend, the respondents’ confidence in the future of their profession remains high at 81%, up one percentage point from the previous quarter. In addition to this, 73% of engineers would recommend their profession to their children, a decline of one percentage point quarter-on-quarter. However, when asked about their confidence of remaining in South Africa for the foreseeable future, respondents recorded an average confidence level of 73%, down three percentage points on the previous quarter. “It is imperative that the concerns raised by the survey are addressed with urgency in order to retain these valuable skills in the country,” concludes Joubert.