Well Paid Job Openings in South Africa

The HubPages writer Prince Maak asked a question concerning the availability of well paid jobs in Africa. While I do not have data for the entire continent, I can supply some information about types of job listings open from an examination I was interested to do with prominent Internet Job Search Engines. These search engines scan all Internet job postings on a frequent schedule and are a good starting point for answering the question and looking for work in the country of South Africa.

ECONOMIC FRUSTRATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA

One feature of frustration in the South African economy is the listing of 107,000+ current job openings in Mid-February 2012 alongside a 23.9% Unemployment Rate for 4th QTR 2011 and holding stable. The national government planned creation of 5,000,000 jobs between 2010 and 2020 under President Jacon Zuma, but the goal seems thus far out of reach in 2012.

The national government reports 4,000,000 unemployed workers in South Africa and the listings of 107,000 or so jobs openings do not offer enough work for the masses. Almost 40 unemployed workers exist for every single job opening (ration 40 to 1). Many of the unemployed feel hopeless in attaining new work (see video below).

By February 2014, President Zuma reported 15,177,000 people working in the nation, with 653,000 jobs created in 2013.

• South Africa: An Extreme Makeover

  News services reporting about South Africa's economic status and future point to a high unemployment rate and the possibility of new taxes related to the mining industry. A mining report containing 600 pages, called the State Intervention in the Minerals Sector Report was turned in on February 3, 2012 to mining authorities, but does not promote the idea of nationalizing the mining industry with any sort of bailout or tax scheme. Thus far, mining is felt to be an important economic contributor.

• South Africa's Zuma Says Infrastructure Upgrades Will Add Jobs

  President Jacob Zuma took office in 2009 and began to target infrastructure for upgrading in 2012, much as the US has done under President Barack Obama. President Zuma felt in 2012 that infrastructure improvements throughout the nation would create millions of new jobs and reduce the high unemployment rate (see video).

• South Africa to host golf's Tournament of Hope in 2013| Reuters

  The first PGA Tournament of Hope was announced 2/10/2012 to be held in South Africa for 2013, bringing with it new travel dollars and jobs.

A useful summit to discuss and plan action to improve South Africans' quality of life via land ownership, housing, and new job creation was cancelled when it was disrupted by Occupy Movement/Take Back the Commons demonstrations.

A three-day summit was planned for the end of January 2012 in Cape Town, South Africa. However, low- and middle-income protestors formed Occupy Rondebosch Common at the site of the planned summit as a protest of income-class disparities (which fall out as racial income disparities) in Cape Town and what protestors felt has been lip service to equality and desegregation, the commons being most accessible in the end to higher income whites.

In response, the summit was cancelled and 40 protestors were arrested.

Reference and Article:

• "Take Back the Commons" and the Summit on People's Land, Housing and Jobs

The Top 5 Industries in which are advertised the largest numbers of job opeings during 1st QTR 2012 in South Africa include the following:

1. Information Technology (IT) - Especially software developers and business analysts
2. Salespeople and Sales Consultants
3. Finance
4. Accounting
5. Trades: Diesel Mechanics, Electricians, Millwrights

The Mining Industry, will known in South Africa for its success in extracting and importing diamonds, gold, and copper, among other natural resources, is still an important contributor to the nation's economy. Engineers in mining related businesses are among the best well paid jobs available here and are in high demand.(see listings below).

The research of the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency in America) states that South Africa is an emerging marketplace. It enjoys a large amount of natural resources, along with developed financial, IT, and energy industries, among others. It operated a national stock exchange that ranks at 18th largest globally.

President Jacob Zuma took office in 2009 at the purported end of recession in South Africa and saw some improvement in 2010 and 2011. However, 2012 infrastructure needs are vital and high unemployment, despite well-paid jobs listed as high demand, is a large problem (see video above).

In the State of the Nation Address of 2/2012, President Zuma highlighted projects planned to increase jobs. However, many people have no housing and this must be addressed.

JOBS

• 220 000 solar geysers (water heaters) have been placed in South Africa up to 2012. The Presidents wants to increase this number of installations to 1,000,000 by 2014-15.
• 8.4 Billion Rand (1.1 Billion USD) is allocated for funding manufacturing and other industry expansions.
• 300 Billion Rand (38.7 Billion USD)is allocated for 5-year infrastructure projects, including railroads.
• 1.5 Billion Rand (193.3 MBillion USD) is allocated for low interest loans for 60 companies to create jobs.
• 300 Million Rand (38.7 Million USD) is allocated for work towards construction for new universities in Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape.

HOUSING

• 1 Billion Rand is allocated to help with housing loans for the lower income recipients, beginning April 2012.

Andrew England in Cape Town on 2/08/2012 at this link that the nation of South Africa could target mineral wealth for as much as $5.3 Billion per year with taxes on the country's successful Mining Industries. Funds may be used in part to help target the reduction of poverty and unemployment. The big news is that nationalizing the mines seems out of the question.

This is likely true, considering the fact that when the historical Jeffrey Mining and Manufacturing Company began to decline in the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, it's operations in South Africa were still lucrative. My family received cards and wildlife photos from long-time engineering friends of my fathers there until the 1970s. With thousands of jobs available in mining today, the industry continues to succeed.

Major exports: Gold, diamonds, platinum, additional minerals, machinery, and equipment.

On February 8, 2012, Stephen Gunnion and Robert Brand at Bloomberg Business Week reported that some South African stocks increased after previous declines:

• Anglo American Plc- Mining company.
• Copper - the natural resource copper (related to mining).
• BHP Billiton Ltd.- Largest mining concern in the world.
• Calgro M3 Holdings Ltd.- Housing Developer.
• Old Mutual Plc- Largest insurance company in the nation.

At the same time, shares in Pick-n-Pay, the second biggest grocery chain in South Africa, have been falling and continue to fall, with the CEO resigning.

The following jobs are the most frequently posted. Highest paid are in bold.

1. Civil Engineers
2. Java Developers
3. Project Managers - Under this job title are listed over 7,200 positions that include Marketing Manager, Financial Manager, Contract Manager, Engineering Manager, Senior Project Manager, Account Manager, Business Analyst, Project Control Manager, Mining Engineer and/or Manager, and Technical Manager.
4. Sales Representatives
5. Receptionists
6. Financial Managers
7. Accountants
8. PHP Developers
9. C Developers
10. Sales Consultants
11. Millwrights
12. Business Analysts
13. Electricians
14. Administrative Clerks
15. Financial Accountants

The companies listed as offering the largest numbers of open positions are:

1. Hire Resolve- Hire Resolve listed 7,600+ job postings in mid-February 2012, but over 15,100 open jobs in October 2014. The highest demand listings were in Engineering, Technologies, Software Development, and Finance and Accounting.
2. e-Merge IT Recruitment - This firm listed approximately 2,700 jobs in the Information Technology Industry
3. Quantum Recruitment
4. Mass Staffing Projects
5. DAV Professional Placement Group
6. Aiim Recruiting
7. Prostaff
8. EOH Recruitment Solutions
9. cc Michael Page ZA
10. Chartered Appointments
11. HumanJobs
12. HI-TECH RECRUITMENT
13. Ampath Trust

An additional 7,000 positions were posted that related to Mining and Mines, largely in Engineering and mostly in Gauteng; Johannesburg, Gauteng; Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal; North West; Northern Cape; Limpopo; Cape Town, Western Cape; West, Northern Cape; Rustenburg, North West; and Pretoria, Gauteng. The two largest companies for hiring in these jobs are Hire Resolve and Mass Staffing Projects.

• Hire Resolve:1410 Eglin Sunninghill, Sunninghill, Gauteng
• Mass Staffing Projects deals in Engineering, IT, Oil & Natural Gas, Mining and Trade/Technologies. Top Jobs update continually at the top of their homepage at http://www.staffingprojects.co.za/ You can set up Job Alerts and follow the company postings on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

South Africa is the site of at least 50 Universities, Colleges, and Vocational Schools, along with specific skills training entities for a number of industry sectors. Information about them can be found at:

• South Africa; Education, Training and Skills Development: http://www.skillsportal.co.za/