Jobs portal CareerJunction has published its Employment Insights for May 2022, highlighting the job skills that are most in-demand in South Africa right now.
In this report, CareerJunction replaces its previous work supply and demand index with a more detailed look at which job sectors are hiring in the country, as well as which positions are most in demand. Data for the report is gathered from the Saongroup South Africa – where around 5,000 of the country’s top recruiters advertise their positions to millions of registered job seekers.
Recruitment activity increased slightly in May 2022 after a slight decline in April. According to the group, online hiring activity continues to grow, with an increase of 24% between May 2021 and May 2022.
CareerJunction’s data shows that there was a seasonal increase of 4% in the average number of vacancies per month between the final quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022. There was a further increase in job opportunities in April and May. Since the fourth quarter of 2021, the average number of vacancies has increased by 8%.
Additionally, employment prospects have improved since the start of the year within the Admin, Office and Support, Warehousing and Logistics, Finance, Cleaning, Maintenance and Repair as well as Architecture and Engineering space. Vacancies within these job sectors have increased by over 17% since the fourth quarter of 2021.
Whilst vacancies in Building and Construction, Sales, and Business and Management have increased by between 8% and 13% since the final quarter of 2021.
In-demand job skills:
Manufacturing and Assembly
- Machinist
- Plant / Product Control
- Quality Control
Admin, Office and Support
- Admin Clerk
- Client / Customer Support
- Human Resourced
- Switchboard / Reception
- Secretary
Finance
- Bookkeeping
- Cost and Management Accounting
- Accounts Payable / Receivable
- Purchasing and Procurement
- Financial / Project Accounting
Business and Management
- Middle / Department Management
- Team Leader and Supervisor
- Staff Recruitment / Selection
- Executive Management / Director
- Senior Management
Declining hiring trends:
Information Technology
- Software development
- Data analysis / Data warehousing
Although Information Technology continues to be the top-performing employment sector in South Africa, itโs interesting to observe that hiring activity in this area has declined by 3% in the last three months.
โThis decline may be partly attributed to increased emigration as travel restrictions are relaxed as well as the growing trend of โdigital nomadsโ in the IT space,โ CareerJunction said.
A career expert noted an upward trend in candidates signing up to search and apply for jobs in Education Training and Library, Manufacturing and Assembly, and Medical and Health sectors.
Sectors in focus:
Admin, Office and Support.
The most desired skills include:
- Client and customer support
- Admin clerk
- Human resources
The majority of Admin, Office and Support positions are for Gauteng (60%), followed by the Western Cape (14%) and KwaZulu Natal (13%). Almost half of all candidates seeking a job in this sector say they are willing to relocate to another province for a job โ and most remain in the sector for 26 months.
Regionally, CareerJunction noted that Gauteng, the Western Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal have all shown increasing demand for professionals in Design, Media, and Arts and Architecture and Engineering as well as the Legal sectors over the last two years.
The recruitment activity has risen significantly across each of the three professional sectors over the last 12 months. This is brilliant news for recruiters and job seekers.
Sources: Business Tech, 2022 and Ashleigh Nefdt, 2022
