South Africa's IT, engineering and technology sectors are among the best sectors for employment in the country, with the most amount of jobs advertised.
This is based on research conducted by job search engine Adzuna, which charts vacancies advertised on its platform, and found the ICT industry to be the top hiring sector nationally.
The job search engine ranked the top 50 cities in SA by comparing job vacancies in its search of over 140 000 live jobs and advertised salaries in each city in January. It also determined the best sector employers and best paying provinces in the country.
Adzuna reveals that IT, technology and engineering occupy the number one, three and four spots among the top five sectors, with 9 303, 7 762 and 7 297 available vacancies, respectively.
It says the ICT field has over 20 000 jobs currently advertised. "The greatest growth in job stock can be seen in the tech industry, which offers more than 50 000 job opportunities in various categories."
Ernie Hipner, business development director at CareerWeb, notes there has been an overall increase of around 10% in the number of IT jobs posted on the recruitment platform compared to January last year.
"Our platform shows Johannesburg still has the highest number of IT jobs advertised compared to Cape Town, but we have experienced a significant increase in IT jobs in Cape Town. The IT jobs in Cape Town have increased by 15%. Interestingly, an average of 120 new IT profiles are uploaded to our network on a daily basis; Cape Town represents around 24% while Johannesburg represents 53%."
More money in your pocket
It may come as a shock to many South Africans, but the City of Cape Town has the most job opportunities in the country, and overall the Western Cape ranks as the province with the highest paying jobs, according to Adzuna.
The findings show the Western Cape topped the tables as the province with the highest average salary of R385 401, while Gauteng ranks second with a salary of R304 799.
The Western Cape's MEC for economic opportunities, Beverley Schäfer, says Statistics SA data has consistently shown the province to be a leader in regards to job creation. "Even though it measures a short period, this Adzuna data shows we're also leading the pack in terms of job opportunities and salaries."
Last year, research conducted by Endeavor Insight identified the greater Cape Town area, including Stellenbosch, to be Africa's tech capital.
The report was commissioned by the Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative, Wesgro and the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation with the support of the Western Cape government.
Referencing the report, Schäfer adds: "The Western Cape government has focused on growing tech skills and opportunities in the province as we want to position ourselves as a global tech hub. Last year, the Endeavour Insights report revealed the Cape entrepreneurial tech sector is significantly more productive than other African cities, employing more than double the people of Lagos and Nairobi combined, with 450-550 entrepreneurial companies employing between 40 000 to 50 000 people."
Although major head offices that absorb and continue to require IT skills are in Johannesburg, Cape Town is becoming the hub for IT skills, a lot like Silicon Valley in the US, says Hipner.
This, he says, will continue to grow. "I have noted that the lifestyle is sought-after and people are willing to relocate to Cape Town, while the salaries for IT professionals are on par with Johannesburg counterparts. Also, the vibe and projects worked on in Cape Town are attractive to IT specialists."
Hipner notes developers remain the most in demand, followed by data and business intelligence skills and IT security.
* Disclaimer: CareerWeb is the recruitment division of ITWeb.
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