A joint effort involving the public and private sectors, learning institutions and communities is needed to ensure SA’s children grow into well-rounded, skilled adults ready for the jobs of tomorrow.
Prof Nadine Petersen, dean of the faculty of education at the University of Johannesburg, told Business Day that that meant all aspects of society, including policing services, social services, social health and social welfare should participate.
“This is a combined effort,” she said.
She weighed in on the World Economic Forum’s “Future of Jobs Report 2025” report, released last week, which noted that 22% of jobs globally were expected to face disruption by 2030, with 170- million new roles offsetting 92-million displacements. The report also revealed a net creation of 78-million new jobs by 2030.
“Disruption” does not necessarily mean the disappearance of jobs. It can also mean evolution, the creation of new roles, or significant changes to existing roles. For SA, the stakes are high, as gaps in critical skills and education threaten to leave many behind in this rapidly changing landscape.
The report, which brings together insights from more than 1,000 companies worldwide, collectively employing more than 14- million workers, identified five key factors driving the creation of new jobs: technological advancements, the green transition, demographic shifts, geo-economic fragmentation, and economic uncertainty.
Globally, roles such as farmworkers, delivery drivers, construction workers, salespersons, and food processing workers are expected to experience the largest job growth.
Additionally, care roles — including nursing professionals, social workers, counselling professionals and personal care aides — are projected to grow significantly over the next five years. Education roles, such as tertiary and secondary schoolteachers, will also see increases in demand.
The report highlights renewable energy and environmental engineering as two of the fastest-growing fields globally.
Agriculture
While farmworker jobs are projected to grow globally, the report notes significant shifts driven by automation and renewable energy technologies.
SA’s heavy reliance on manual labour in sectors such as mining, agriculture, and retail underscores the urgency of preparing for these changes.
The agriculture, forestry and fishing industry contributed approximately 2.3% to the nation’s GDP in the third quarter of 2024. According to Stats SA, primary agriculture accounts for about 935,000 jobs. Mining, meanwhile, contributes about 6%-8% of the country’s GDP.
Technology-focused skills
The report identified the skills gap as the single largest barrier to workforce transformation, cited by 63% of employers globally. By 2030, nearly 40% of skills required on the job, globally, are expected to change, blending technology-focused skills — such as AI, big data, and cybersecurity — with human-centric skills like resilience, creativity, self-awareness and adaptability.
For SA, this figure stands at 36%, making it crucial for the country to keep pace.
According to the report, critical emerging skills — currently not that significant but expected to see increased demand — include networks and cybersecurity, as well as environmental stewardship.
Abouty 77% of surveyed employers were planning to prepare their workforce for an AI-driven future. As AI automates tasks, 41% of companies globally plan to reduce their workforce. Upskilling, therefore, remains a top priority for businesses worldwide.
The report highlighted the importance of equipping the existing workforce with the skills needed to work more effectively alongside AI.
SA’s skills gap
The skills challenge in SA is acute. The country faces education disparities, leaving large sections of the population unprepared for the demands of future jobs.
According to the data, a large portion of SA’s talent pool is lagging behind in both technology and soft skills compared to many other regions.
Petersen explained that SA effectively had “parallel education systems”.
“You have one segment of the population that’s getting access to real high-quality education, which prepares them well for the workplace, for further study, for entry into the workplace, and for these skills — or at least some of the skills — that are required in this very fast-changing world.
“Unfortunately, due to issues — and some of them are legacy issues; we can’t ever get away from that — we also have inadequate educational facilities.”
She further noted that many schools in rural areas lacked even basic resources, such as functioning libraries, working computer labs or access to Wi-Fi.
“It means that many of our learners leave school without the necessary skills to operate in this very technologically driven world.”
She added that that resulted in universities often admitting students who — as encountered in her own teaching environment — had never really worked on computers or accessed databases.
Another issue holding children back was the quality of teaching. “Are we really promoting what the literature refers to as 21st-century skills or transversal skills — competencies that are required for our young people to operate in the world of work or even in higher education institutions?
“Education is not just about getting the right answer to a teacher's question. It’s also about developing in learners the competencies to critically question knowledge; to critically question content.”
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