{"id":122603,"date":"2026-03-14T05:28:38","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T08:28:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tech.einnews.com\/article\/899354697"},"modified":"2026-03-14T05:28:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T08:28:38","slug":"new-hiring-models-emerge-to-tackle-sa-tech-talent-gap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/new-hiring-models-emerge-to-tackle-sa-tech-talent-gap\/","title":{"rendered":"New hiring models emerge to tackle SA tech talent gap"},"content":{"rendered":"
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South African businesses are increasingly relying on innovative hiring strategies and bootcamp-as-a-benefit models to navigate the country\u2019s persistent technology skills shortage. <\/p>\n

This is the sentiment shared by industry pundits from training providers and business leaders who say, with demand for IT skills far outstripping supply, firms are seeking creative ways to develop, retain and deploy talent, while ensuring their digital<\/span><\/span> ambitions remain on track.<\/p>\n

Riaz Moola, founder and CEO of IT training<\/em><\/i>institute HyperionDev, emphasises the shift toward internal talent development.<\/p>\n

Businesses, he notes, are increasingly investing in employee potential rather than solely on external credentials.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe trend has shifted toward \u2018internal mobility\u2019. Eighty-one percent of human resources professionals in SA now prioritise reskilling. <\/p>\n

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\u201cWe are also seeing a surge in the \u2018bootcamp-as-a-benefit\u2019 model, where companies pay for industry-aligned training in artificial intelligence<\/span><\/span> (AI<\/span><\/span>) or cyber security to fill gaps internally without the risk of external hiring.\u201d <\/p>\n

The long-term impact of the IT skills shortage on South African businesses and the STEM<\/a> fields will result in stagnated innovation, warns Moola. <\/p>\n

\u201cWithout \u2018tool-makers\u2019, we remain \u2018tool-users\u2019. We must protect the state\u2019s investment in basic education by providing the final 10% of finishing school training required to make graduates industry-ready,\u201d he asserts. <\/p>\n

Experts previously told<\/a> ITWeb the most acute shortages are in emerging and high-demand domains, such as AI\/machine learning and data science. There is also a huge demand for skills such as cyber security\/information security, cloud\/DevOps and infrastructure.<\/p>\n

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Carlize Aploon, analyst at Africa Analysis, notes that rather than struggling to hire, many companies are training current staff in high-demand areas. <\/p>\n

\u201cCompanies are upskilling and reskilling. Online learning platforms, internal mentorship and transferable skills are being prioritised over rigid credential requirements. This opens up the talent pool to include career-switchers and junior staff,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

Outsourcing remains a critical tool for managing specialised IT functions such as cyber security, cloud infrastructure and software development. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo manage costs and access expertise, many businesses are outsourcing IT functions to specialised firms. At the same time, automation and low-code\/no-code platforms are helping overstretched IT teams focus on strategic projects, allowing non-IT staff to contribute to application development,\u201d Aploon comments.<\/p>\n

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Kelvin Nhlapo, acting GM of the Institute of Information Technology Professionals SA, explains that many companies are collaborating with universities and technical institutions to create internship and apprenticeship programmes that prepare graduates for immediate employment.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the business side, firms are creating formal internal training and mentorship schemes. Forty-four percent of employers use flexible schedules and 41% run development programmes to retain staff. By integrating education with practical work experience, businesses are building a stronger local talent pipeline,\u201d Nhlapo points out.<\/p>\n

Matome Madibana, CEO of the Media, Information and Communication Technologies Sector Education and Training Authority, says South African businesses are responding to the talent shortage through a combination of strategies, each with its own trade-offs. <\/p>\n

\u201cOutsourcing \u2212 both domestically and internationally \u2212 has increased, particularly for specialised functions, such as cyber security monitoring, cloud management and software development.<\/p>\n

\u201cManaged service providers have seen strong growth as businesses effectively rent capability they cannot cost-effectively build and retain. The risk of this model is that it can inhibit the development of internal capability and create long-term dependency,\u201d he states.<\/p>\n

Beyond universities, most SETAs have now joined the movement to offer digital skills training, and this collective momentum is accelerating the kind of leapfrogging that changes economic trajectories, Madibana adds.<\/p>\n

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Discussing the collaborative role of government, academia and the private sector in closing the ICT skills gap, the experts believe a firmly rooted three-way alliance is set to<\/strong><\/strong>play a pivotal role in scaling skills development efforts.<\/p>\n

Moola explains: \u201cWe need a \u2018tripartite alliance\u2019 for skills. Government must move toward ‘outcome-based funding\u2019, paying training providers only when a student is placed in a job.<\/p>\n

\u201cAcademia should embrace hybrid models, combining degree prestige with the practical speed of a bootcamp, while the private sector must invest in \u2018train-to-hire\u2019 pipelines to secure their own \u2018human infrastructure\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Madibana believes that closing the IT skills gap at the scale SA requires is not something any single stakeholder can achieve alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt demands a genuinely collaborative architecture, where government provides policy frameworks and funding incentives, academia produces foundational knowledge, and the private sector contributes industry relevance, workplace experience and long-term employment pathways.\u201d<\/p>\n

He stresses that creating inclusive talent pipelines is both a social justice imperative and an economic necessity, ensuring SA does not fall behind in the global digital economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen young people, particularly from under-resourced communities, cannot see a clear pathway into ICT careers, aspiration declines at precisely the moment we need it to surge,\u201d Madibana warns.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… to navigate the country\u00e2\u0080\u0099s persistent technology<\/span> skills shortage. This is the sentiment … GM of the Institute of Information Technology<\/span> Professionals SA, explains that many …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122603\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}