SA's massive skills problem

[lowriderza]

Irony is we had some of this knowledge and infrastructure already in place to build targeted skill sets from secondary level. The ANC could've just expanded on that. But like most things the baby was thrown out with the bathwater.

 

[Benedict A55h0le]

SA does not have a skills problem, it has a cultural problem in that skills, competence and merit is not respected.

 

[mojoman]

Irony is we had some of this knowledge and infrastructure already in place to build targeted skill sets from secondary level. The ANC could've just expanded on that. But like most things the baby was thrown out with the bathwater.

And the bathtub stolen and sold...

 

[Benedict A55h0le]

And the bathtub stolen and sold...

And then a new bath tub is bought for R500k from a connected cadre, paid for by the tax payer.

 

[HunterNW]

Vocational schools and colleges. Kids would do aptitude tests at primary level and be moved to the correct type of school at secondary level. So for instance if you tested for and wanted to be a butcher you would go to a butchery school. And by the time you finish school you would be a butcher certified by the country's Meat Board along with your Matric Certificate.

Lovely. But not in SA.

 

[mojoman]

And then a new bath tub is bought for R500k from a connected cadre, paid for by the tax payer.

Ja, but at least its a plastic one for R500k....

 

[hj007]

My brother - although employed - was looking for something fresh and started updating CV. After a year he’d gone on just a handful of interviews … and obviously been unsuccessful.

He tried his luck in applying for a position in Netherlands - and got it. Sold houses, cars etc and hopped on a plane . Love it.

Judging by the thread, it happens often and it’s sad to see.

There haven't been that many jobs available in SA either, very few large employers going on recruitment drives.

Need a growing market, and Netherlands seems to be doing that (plus offering an escape for SA folks that were looking to move)..

 

[borro]

And the bathtub stolen and sold...

 

[noxibox]

View attachment 1444319

All on their own? What were the English people doing? And why did South Africa need cheap black labour if white Afrikaners were doing all the work? Or does he mean Coloured people built everything?

 

[noxibox]

Skills are an issue, but a huge hindrance are the labour laws. If employers could hire and fire at will like the US, we'd be far more willing to take on labour.

That's what they say, but it is a lie. What would really happen is that it would open every employee up to even more exploitation.

 

[noxibox]

Why study to be skilled when you are living in a welfare state.

You could ask the Germans and Swiss. They both have a welfare system.

Germany also seems to have much better labour relations where they seek co-operation and view the workers as important contributors rather than equipment to be maximally exploited and then discarded.

So here is the irony.

We have someone in our office that has 25 years experience working in Ai, thats really a genius and built many multi million rand applications that work, well damn well.

But in comes the new HR leaders and say, whoah, they dont have a degree in computer science Ai (which didnt exist 25 years ago), so we will have to get rid of them and hire a newbie for double the money (probably recruit in from India) to do their job. Because youngsters know better.

So the staff member just quit, a lot of their systems went offline and the newbie from India basically resigned 3 months later with no clue what to do. The old Engineer is gone abroad.

The sad reality is thats now going to cost our company 50 million in penalty fees to clients.

All because some dumb HR demanded people with degrees over people with heckuva lot of years of work experience.

HR does what management tells them. So that policy came from upper management.

Irony is we had some of this knowledge and infrastructure already in place to build targeted skill sets from secondary level. The ANC could've just expanded on that. But like most things the baby was thrown out with the bathwater.

The UK too has been very deficient in this area. The problem in South Africa is that those types of jobs are seen as a lesser type of work whereas in places like Germany they are not.

 

[PaulMurkin]

You could ask the Germans and Swiss. They both have a welfare system.

Germany also seems to have much better labour relations where they seek co-operation and view the workers as important contributors rather than equipment to be maximally exploited and then discarded.


HR does what management tells them. So that policy came from upper management.


The UK too has been very deficient in this area. The problem in South Africa is that those types of jobs are seen as a lesser type of work whereas in places like Germany they are not.

Yes, especially in SA, seen as a lower class piece of trash because you make things. Electricians are STILL regarded as the lowest of the low. Mechanics too, until a car breaks then the people suck up to them.

There is VERY LITTLE interest in SA amongst kids re technology. All of them these days want to be influencers or TikTokkers and those that have half a brain want to do things like be a lawyer of an accountant.

 

[Cosmik Debris]

All on their own? What were the English people doing? And why did South Africa need cheap black labour if white Afrikaners were doing all the work? Or does he mean Coloured people built everything?

British expertise was imported when required. You can hand a pile of bricks, timber and steel to a group of unskilled labourers. They won't be able to do much with it except build shacks unless someone has designed what must be built and someone directs the construction. That's where the British and Afrikaners come in.

 

[lowriderza]

The UK too has been very deficient in this area. The problem in South Africa is that those types of jobs are seen as a lesser type of work whereas in places like Germany they are not.

It seems to be an issue in quite a few countries. I've seen a documentary on South Koreans also looking down on people that want to become welders etc.

 

[PaulMurkin]

In South Africa there is another issue.
South Africans are very into keeping up appearances and hate it when someone has more money than they do, are better than them, etc..

This is what happens in the workplace often. Someone works hard and achieves an outstanding result. The others get a chip on the shoulder and then sometimes (not always) get nasty- I have worked for two companies where this has happened, separately. First company was back in 2004, boss kid was working there too, he got a blood nose because I did a project finished in 6 months, and from then on eventually I was forced to leave the company- they made my life hell. So much was the offense taken that 3 YEARS AFTER I LEFT THEY TRIED TO TAKE ME TO COURT, CLAIMING I STOLE THEIR IP.

Second company, after a few years I did something cool, to do with encryption... boom... company owner's got a chip on his shoulder. I had to pack my bag and leave. He then accused me of sabotage, I just blocked his number, ignored him and moved on, never heard of him again...

 

[Cosmik Debris]

In South Africa there is another issue.
South Africans are very into keeping up appearances and hate it when someone has more money than they do, are better than them, etc..

This is what happens in the workplace often. Someone works hard and achieves an outstanding result. The others get a chip on the shoulder and then sometimes (not always) get nasty- I have worked for two companies where this has happened, separately. First company was back in 2004, boss kid was working there too, he got a blood nose because I did a project finished in 6 months, and from then on eventually I was forced to leave the company- they made my life hell. So much was the offense taken that 3 YEARS AFTER I LEFT THEY TRIED TO TAKE ME TO COURT, CLAIMING I STOLE THEIR IP.

Second company, after a few years I did something cool, to do with encryption... boom... company owner's got a chip on his shoulder. I had to pack my bag and leave. He then accused me of sabotage, I just blocked his number, ignored him and moved on, never heard of him again...

It's called crab in the bucket syndrome and is very prevalent in SA. When one crab gets a grip on the rim to get out of the bucket, the rest grab it for help up and all fall back into the bucket.

 

[cguy]

In South Africa there is another issue.
South Africans are very into keeping up appearances and hate it when someone has more money than they do, are better than them, etc..

This is what happens in the workplace often. Someone works hard and achieves an outstanding result. The others get a chip on the shoulder and then sometimes (not always) get nasty- I have worked for two companies where this has happened, separately. First company was back in 2004, boss kid was working there too, he got a blood nose because I did a project finished in 6 months, and from then on eventually I was forced to leave the company- they made my life hell. So much was the offense taken that 3 YEARS AFTER I LEFT THEY TRIED TO TAKE ME TO COURT, CLAIMING I STOLE THEIR IP.

Second company, after a few years I did something cool, to do with encryption... boom... company owner's got a chip on his shoulder. I had to pack my bag and leave. He then accused me of sabotage, I just blocked his number, ignored him and moved on, never heard of him again...

This is the problem with having Massive Skills…

 

[cda]

Pretty sure skilled people realize they dont have to work for 1/10th their value in a country with no electricity

 

[cda]

Lovely. But not in SA.

Used to be with NQF though. It worked well for electricians, chefs, lathe operators etc

 

[emperornemesis]

The main problem in SA with regards to skills, is that a large portion of society wants salary increases every time an employer wishes to teach them something new, and then we have those same morons that thinks that lying about skills is totally OK as long as you get the job. Once you have the job, you can just coast on the knowledge of others, and employers then adopt an attitude of "you know the work better than the moron, you go do it even though he gets paid for it". Way too many people go into positions just for the money, and not for the advancement of their own knowledge. Luckily those same people are stupid enough to move 1000km for R400pm more, so it's a blessing in disguise that SA has so many brainless math failures.