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.

The insights report replaces CareerJunction’s previous job supply and demand index, taking a more detailed look at the job sectors in the country that are currently hiring, and which positions are most sought after.

The report is based on comprehensive data gathered from the Saongroup South Africa – where around 5,000 of the country’s top recruiters (both agencies and employers) advertise their positions to millions of registered jobseekers.

Following the minor drop in advertised vacancies in April, there was a slight uptick in recruitment activity during May 2022. Online hiring activity continues to show a positive trajectory, with an increase of 24% between May 2021 and May 2022, the group said.

CareerJunction’s data shows that there was a seasonally adjusted 4% increase in average 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. The monthly average of vacancies has increased by 8% since the fourth quarter of 2021.

Job seekers within admin, office & support; warehousing & logistics; finance; cleaning, maintenance & repair as well as architecture & engineering have also been experiencing improved employment prospects since the beginning of the year.

Vacancies within these job sectors have increased by over 17% since the fourth quarter of 2021. Vacancies in building & construction; sales; and business & management have increased by between 8% and 13% since the final quarter of 2021, the data shows.

In-demand job skills

Manufacturing & assembly, finance, business & management as well as admin, office & support have seen the biggest increase in hiring activity, CareerJunction said.

It recorded growing hiring activity in four main sectors over the last three months. In each sector, several roles have been advertised more frequently.

Manufacturing and Assembly +22%

• Machinist
• Plant / Product Control
• Quality Control

Admin, office and support +19%

• Admin Clerk
• Client / Customer Support
• Human Resourced
• Switchboard / Reception
• Secretary

Finance +17%

• Bookkeeping
• Cost and Management Accounting
• Accounts Payable / Receivable
• Purchasing and Procurement
• Financial / Project Accounting

Business and Management +12%

• Middle / Department Management
• Team Leader and Supervisor
• Staff Recruitment / Selection
• Executive Management / Director
• Senior Management

Declining hiring trends

Conversely, CareerJunction also tracked a drop in hiring activity in certain sectors – specifically, two positions within the IT space.

Information Technology -3%

• Software development
• Data analysis / Data warehousing

“Although Information Technology continues to be the top-performing employment sector in South Africa, it’s interesting to observe that hiring activity in this area has declined by 3% in the last three months.

“This decline may be partly attributed to increased emigration as travel restrictions are relaxed as well as the growing trend of ‘digital nomads’ in the IT space,” CareerJunction said.

The 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

CareerJunction highlighted admin, office and support jobs in South Africa, with this sector still showing demand for candidates. 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 – and most remain in the sector for 26 months.

Salaries in the sector for select jobs include:

• Admin Clerk: R15,265: R18,775
• Call Centre Operator: R11,730- R14,723
• Call Centre Supervisor: R20,469 – R23,302

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 & engineering as well as the legal sectors over the last two years.

The Western Cape experienced a decrease in hiring activity for design, media & arts professionals between 2020 and 2021. Similar trends were evident for architecture and engineering professionals in the Western Cape and KwaZulu Natal between 2020 and 2021.

Overall, however, recruitment activity has grown significantly across all three professional sectors over the last 12 months, it said.