10 jobs that are in high demand in South Africa right now
Technology professionals are making a comeback in South Africa, with 10 jobs in high demand right now.
Online recruitment platform Pnet stated that demand for technology professionals in South Africa has rebounded strongly in the second half of 2025.
This suggests that the technology sector is turning the corner, with ‘meaningful signs of recovery for the IT sector following a decline from 2022 to the first half of 2025.
The analysis, based on the latest job market data, shows that technology vacancies have increased by 18% year-over-year for the period up to the end of October 2025.
Vacancies increased 10% month-on-month from September to October 2025, which signalled a clear and sustained uplift in the sector.
Software developer returned to the top of the list of the most demanding jobs in South Africa in October for the first time in three and a half years.
Between 2018 and March 2022, Software Developer was the most in-demand job role in South Africa every month.
However, this changed as tech hiring weakened worldwide as the COVID-19 lockdowns came to an end.
“We are recording a notable shift in the market following several years of local and international headlines about large-scale layoffs across IT companies,” said Anja Bates, Head of Data at Pnet.
“The need for experienced and specialised Tech Professionals stabilised at a lower level for a while. Now, the latest job market data points to renewed growth in technology, spurred by cloud and AI adoption.”
Pnet’s data showed that Business Analyst roles show the strongest growth in the tech space, rising 102% from January 2025.
Second on the list are data-focused roles, such as Data Scientists, Data Analysts and Data Warehousing Specialists, with vacancies up 48% since January 2025.
Systems and Network Administrators are in short supply, with vacancies for these infrastructure specialists increasing by 38% over the year.
Lastly, vacancies for Software Developers are up 34% overall since January 2025.
“Demand for tech talent is rising again, and our data shows recruiters where competition for scarce skills is set to intensify,” said Bates.
“Employers who move early to streamline hiring processes, strengthen their employer value proposition, and create attractive benefits and work conditions will be best positioned to secure scarce talent as the sector continues to recover.”
“From Pnet’s perspective, the strengthening of tech hiring is an encouraging sign for the broader labour market, and an important indicator of growing investment in digital capability across industries.”
The top 10 jobs
When going into specifics, Pnet said that the following job roles stand out as the most in-demand tech positions, where hiring activity is concentrated and where talent shortages are likely to persist:
- Business Analyst
Business Analysts analyse processes, identify improvement opportunities and translate requirements into precise, actionable specifications for technical teams.
- Data Analyst
Data Analysts interpret and transform raw data into insights. This helps businesses support decision-making across the organisation.
- Data Engineer
Data Engineers design, build, and maintain the data infrastructure that allows organisations to store, process, and access vast amounts of information.
- Software Developer
Software Developers build, test and maintain applications that power operations, customer experiences and digital products.
- Full Stack Developer
Full-stack developers work across both front-end and back-end systems, which provides crucial versatility in building complete applications, ranging from user interface to server logic.
- Java Developer
Java Developers specialise in scalable software services using the Java programming language, one of the most widely used programming languages.
- Data Scientist
Data Scientists extract strategic insights from large, complex datasets. They tend to use analytics, machine learning and statistical modelling to find what they are looking for.
- Project Manager (IT)
IT Project Managers, like in other fields, lead the planning, execution and delivery of significant projects.
- C# Developer
C# Developers build applications using Microsoft’s .NET framework, which supports financial systems, enterprise software and web-based solutions.
- Scrum Master
These workers have little to do with rugby and facilitate ways of working, which help teams to collaborate effectively and create value.
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