Stop counting skills shortage

Johannesburg, 20 Mar 2008

Companies need to stop looking to statistics to address the local skills crisis and start doing something about it.

This is the view of Dan Ellappa, CEO of the e-Skills Academy, which was opened recently by president Thabo Mbeki and communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri.

He was commenting on the ongoing furore about industry's inability to quantify exactly how many skilled ICT workers are needed in the country. Mbeki recently referred to the debate when he said the skills crisis is one of the binding restraints on the economy, with the potential to be debilitating.

However, Ellappa says the market needs to change its thinking in this regard.

"Stop analysing statistics and do something," he advises. "It is easy to determine a skills shortage. You just see where you are having trouble recruiting."

According to Ellappa, the country has huge shortfalls in software and network engineers, as well as business intelligence practitioners, database administrators, solution architects, sales consultants and general project managers.

He says, while research into shortages is important, an equal amount of information can be obtained from interacting with customers.

"That does not always translate into a research document, but if you are servicing your customers, and you have your ear to the ground, you will be able to detect what area of skills you need to be supplying.

"It is not rocket science, it is having a conversation with a customer."

Taking action

Tony Parry, executive director of the Computer Society of SA, agrees. He says a lot of companies are still hung up on numbers, as there is strong awareness of the skills shortage.

However, he says this awareness is generally turned into action.

"A lot of people are undertaking initiatives to address the skills problem - the question then becomes how to continue it," he says.

"I agree it doesn't help to bemoan the situation - people need to do something about it."