South Africa keeps advertising tech jobs it struggles to fill. Recruitment platform Pnet says demand for IT skills is outpacing the available talent, with only about 42% of applicants holding the qualifications most advertised roles require. The shortages are worst in specialised jobs such as technical and business architects, and they carry a cost: project delays, slower digital transformation and higher spending on hiring and keeping staff. The mismatch runs beyond IT, too — Pnet's data shows engineering, IT and healthcare are the hardest hit, with nearly 80% of engineering roles demanding a degree that fewer than half of applicants hold.
A shortage, or a readiness gap?
Not everyone agrees on the diagnosis. The non-profit Collective X, which helps young people into entry-level tech work, argues South Africa does not have a talent shortage so much as a “work-ready talent gap”. Its 2025 research counted about 118,500 ICT vacancies nationally, with more than 40,000 junior-level digital jobs left unfilled. “The disconnect is not about qualifications; it is about workplace experience,” said the group's Deidre Samson, who wants to see far more work-integrated learning. Pnet's own broader data points the same way: over the past year 54% of job ads required a degree, but only 36% of applicants met that bar. Pnet's head of data, Anja Bates, called the gap “a serious structural challenge for businesses, jobseekers and the broader economy”.
Skills walking out the door
Part of the problem is that trained people leave. A recent XpatWeb report listed ICT specialists among South Africa's scarcest skills, noting that local professionals are increasingly drawn to Australia, Canada, the UK and the US for better pay and prospects. Pnet's Michelle Dobson says the fix has to start early, with “sustained investment in young people” and closer work between government, business and non-profits. Employers are beginning to respond: Telkom said last week it was setting up an institute to build AI and digital skills, with group CEO Serame Taukobong calling it “our commitment to ensuring that connectivity translates into skills, jobs and opportunity”. Whether those efforts close a gap this wide — against youth unemployment above 45% — is the test that matters.
