10 of the most and least in-demand jobs in South Africa over the past 4 years
CareerJunction analysed which job roles have grown in demand and which occupations have seen a decrease in job openings since 2019.
Each year, thousands of job seekers in South Africa search for better career prospects and work opportunities. As we approach 2024, there are some jobs that are in high demand.
In order to understand the employment trends for the upcoming year, CareerJunction conducted a research study to analyse the demand for labour during 2023.
The research involved an investigation into which professions are most in demand, as well as hiring trends over time, including the growth of certain job roles and the decrease in job openings for certain occupations.
Over the past few years, these five job sectors have remained the most in-demand:
- Business & Management,
- Finance,
- Information Technology (IT),
- Sales, and
- Admin, Office & Support.
Interestingly, up until 2022, IT was the top-in-demand job sector.
In 2022 and 2023, there were significant job cuts in the IT sector worldwide, which dominated the labour market news.
The decline in the demand for IT staff was also felt in South Africa, causing IT to drop from first place to second as the most in-demand job sector in 2022.
Additionally, in 2023, IT dropped to third place as the demand for Business & Management professionals and Finance professionals surpassed that of IT professionals.
As a result, since 2022, Business & Management professionals have been the most in-demand in the local job market.
However, CareerJunction noted that understanding hiring trends over time can help job seekers find the right career and help recruiters align their approach to finding suitable candidates for their vacant roles.
The data indicated that the most significant labour demand increases are evident in the Building & Construction sector.
As a result, job advertising for Building Project Managers and Electricians has increased significantly over the last four years.
Certain accounting professions, such as bookkeeping and financial / project accounting, have also experienced significant growth in jobs over the last four years.
On the other hand, job roles in Internal Auditing and Cost and Management Accounting are far less in demand than they were four years ago.
Software development jobs have seen the biggest decrease in labour demand since 2019. Other IT job roles which are far less in-demand than they were four years ago are:
- Project Administration / Management,
- Business Analysis and Database Design / Development / Administration.
Interestingly, demand for IT roles in Systems / Network Administration has grown consistently over the past few years.
The infographic below, provided by CareerJunctio, lists the 10 most and least in-demand jobs in South Africa since 2019.
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