These are the best earning professions in South Africa

Adzuna, an online job aggregator, recently published its 2019 salary report which explores the average salaries offered across South Africa’s top industries – analysing more than 100,000 online job listings.

According to the report, salaries only increased by a mere 7% year-on-year from 2018, which is in line with the predicted wages for 2019 by the American company PayScale.

Although the average salary increase is in line with the predicted inflation rate for 2019, the figures are still far too low to compensate for rising prices in most basic consumer products and services, Adzuna said.

Due to the slow rise in wages, more consumers are feeling the pressure on their household spending.

Since January 2019, food prices in South Africa have increased by 3% over the same month in the previous year. Electricity and fuel prices have also increased by a staggering 13.8% per annum over the past decade.

Wage increases by sector

Wage pressure and annual growth continue to vary from one industry to another in 2019, said Jesse Green, country manager for Adzuna South Africa.

Of the top 10 sectors analysed, the IT sector, and more specifically skills in development came out on top, with web developers earning 15% more than they did in 2019.

“For graduates looking to land high-paying jobs that also offer a variety of career opportunities, a degree in computer science is probably your best bet. As AI rises in business and society, the demand for employees with tech skills and knowledge continues to skyrocket, and the salaries for these jobs reflect the same principle,” Green said.

Despite being very high in demand in 2018, php developers are earning a mere 2% more in 2019 than they were in the previous year, Adzuna said.

Major employers like the finance and construction sectors saw minimal growth with wages averaging at an increase of roughly 2%. Moderate wage increases were noted for the engineering, admin, sales, manufacturing and medical sectors.

In 2018, the finance, engineering, and IT sectors dominated the South African job market as far as earning potential was concerned. In 2019, not much has changed.

With the right set of skills, it appears like professionals in software and IT development, engineering (industrial, civil and structural engineers), financial analysis, project management are very well paid, said Green.

Highest earning professions in South Africa

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