Business Opinion

These in-demand jobs in South Africa don’t need a degree

Luke Fraser

 ·16 Jul 2023

Despite the push for highly-educated workers in South Africa, there are still several in-demand jobs in South Africa that do not require degrees.

Recently, many of South Africa’s biggest companies, including Discovery, FNB, Nedbank, and Shoprite, said that they are looking for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) and IT skills.

However, these skills require a level of education that is not accessible to many South Africans.

“Public institutions of higher learning (which are the most affordable option for the majority of school leavers) are not currently able to provide the level of IT skills we require,” Dr Thuli Tabudi, National Human Resources Executive at the SPAR Group, told BusinessTech.

“Private IT institutions are extremely costly and not accessible to many learners/employees, hence there is very little opportunity for previously disadvantaged individuals to access the field.”

In addition, Tabudi’s comments look at the people who can afford to go to institutions of higher learning, which is not the case for many South Africans.

A 2019 study from Stats SA said that more than half (51%) of youth aged 18–24 did not have the financial means to pay for their education.

That being said, recruitment platform Pnet’s Head of Data, Anja Bates, told BusinessTech that many blue-collar jobs in South Africa do not require degrees.

This includes:

• Carpenters
• Painters
• All sorts of repairmen
• Drivers
• Hairdressers
• Beauticians

Bates added that many administrative and support roles do not require a tertiary education, with the same applying to some sales and marketing roles.

She said that the following roles that do not require a degree can provide lucrative paychecks:

She added that there is high demand for these roles in South Africa currently.

“Sales roles are in high demand, as are administrative roles (for example, personal assistants) and support roles. This is because almost every company needs these roles to operate successfully,” she said.

Read: New ranking of the top universities in South Africa working to make the world a better place