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Johannesburg - Much more needs to be done if the skills shortage is not to jeopardise crucial infrastructure projects, Landelahni Business Leaders warned on Tuesday.
Releasing the findings of the Infrastructure Sector Survey 2009, the country's first black-owned and women-owned executive search company said a creative and comprehensive approach is needed by the sector if it is to deliver on local projects against the backdrop of the global skills shortage.
As the South African infrastructure capital investment soared to an estimated R900bn, employment in the sector has increased from 634 000 in 2001 to 1.2 million in 2007, with some 44% employed on a permanent basis.
In 2006 the sector experienced 15.1% growth and in 2007 topped that at 21.3% while employment in the infrastructure sector has doubled from 4% to 8% of total employment.
"Globally, research shows that skills shortages are the biggest constraint on construction growth, with project and contract managers, tradesman and engineers cited as the scarcest of all skills," said Landelahni Business Leaders CEO Sandra Burmeister.
"South Africa is well known for its engineering skills, and the infrastructure sector is competing for skills in the global resourcing market," she said.
In South Africa, between 1998 and 2006, a total of 35 511 engineers graduated across all disciplines.
A total of 14 234 professional engineers registered across all disciplines in South Africa. This is 1 100 less than there were 10 years ago.
Landelahni said recent data shows a slightly upward trend in engineering graduates between 1998 and 2004 and a significant increase in engineering graduates between 2005 and 2006 with almost a 1,000 year-on-year increase.
Against this background, civil engineering graduates have increased from 507 in 2003 to 1 199 in 2006, with the proportion of blacks remaining fairly constant at around 70% to 75% and women remaining an increasing but small minority.
"Efforts by the infrastructure sector to attract students are clearly paying off," said Burmeister.
But she cautioned that this should be seen against the context of South Africa's severe shortage of well-qualified, competent and experienced artisans.
Meeting demand
The Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition suggests that at least 12 500 artisans should be produced each year over the next four years to meet demand, making a total of 50 000 over four years.
However, the number of artisans tested across all trades increased from 15 000 in 1970 to 26 500 in 1986, while those who passed trade tests increased from 6 000 to 13 500.
From 1986, however, the numbers tested dropped to 9 041 and those who passed dropped to a low 3 222, or 42%.
"This has far-reaching cost implications," said Burmeister.
The average cost of artisan training is R120 000 over three years.
At a 42% pass rate, 120 000 candidates need to be trained over three years to generate the required 50 000 qualified artisans.
"The cost of training 120 000 artisans at R120 000 each comes to a total of R14.4bn," Burmeister said.
This must be seen against the current 1% training levy, which generates a mere R6bn a year.
While the infrastructure sector has traditionally been conservative with slow career acceleration, Burmeister said the sector was ideally positioned to accelerate skills development on projects across the globe.
"International exposure and skills exchanges should be part of a broader exposure and retention strategy for managers and skilled professionals such as engineers and artisans," she said.
Given the spread of infrastructure investment, global resourcing strategies are crucial to the future of infrastructural development, allowing companies to share scarce resources across a multitude of projects, Burmeister said.
- I-Net Bridge
