in-demand job skills in South Africa in 2021

Career Junction has published its latest monthly jobs index for December 2020, showing which job skills are currently the most sought-after in South Africa.

The Career Junction Index (CJI) represents online labour dynamics in the country by providing a detailed analysis of the relative ratio of supply and demand in the online job market.

The data shows that during December, hiring activity & job search activity experienced an expected drop due to the holiday season.

The marketing, manufacturing & assembly, sales and architecture & engineering sectors have shown increased recruitment activity over the past few months.

The CJI settled at 99 index points indicating stable conditions in the job search market.

An index score below 100 indicates that there are fewer job opportunities for potential job seekers and more potential job seekers per job advert.

Recruitment is easier due to more potential job seekers per job advert in this market.

A score above 100, meanwhile, implies the opposite – that there are more job opportunities for potential job seekers, and fewer potential job seekers per job advert.

In-demand job skills

The job skills that are highly sought-after locally continues the trend seen over the last year – even during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Software development – Software development remains the most in-demand skill set. Demand for software developers decreased by 6% year-on-year.

Middle/department management – Despite the slowing hiring trend towards the end of the year, demand for middle and department managers grew by 14% over the last six months.

Representative/sales consulting – Sales consulting skills remain very popular in the recruitment market. Year-on-year, the demand for sales consultants remains unchanged.

Trending jobs include:

Senior Management

Average salary offerings for a skilled level position per month:

• Gauteng – R64,335 to R80,931
• Western Cape – R53,285 to R66,508
• KZN – R50,297 to R58,505

Representative / Sales Consulting

Average salary offerings for a skilled level position per month:

• Gauteng – R19,542 to R24,631
• Western Cape – R20,782 to R26,406
• KZN – R19,061 to R23,717

Team Leader & Supervisor

Average salary offerings for a skilled level position per month:

• Gauteng – R17,825 to R22,589
• Western Cape – R20,758 to R23,671
• KZN – R18,024 to R22,053

An overview of vacancy levels across various sectors provides a good indication of where the majority of employment takes place.

The IT, business & management and finance sectors are undoubtedly the most sought-after sectors, followed by the sales, admin, office & support and architecture & engineering sectors, among others listed.

When looking at active job seekers across various sectors, areas of high supply correlate closely to areas of high demand, however supply outstrips demand in some areas, leading to a competitive environment for job seekers.

“Aside from the decrease in hiring activity during December 2020, employment prospects are slowly improving for professionals in the business management, ICT and warehousing & logistics sectors,” Career Junction said.

It added that a volatile demand trend is evident for professionals in the admin, office & support, finance and medical & health sectors.

“The marketing, manufacturing & assembly, sales and architecture & engineering sectors are showing increased recruitment activity over the past months.

“Demand for marketing & sales professionals has been growing consistently over the last four months.”

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