{"id":653556,"date":"2026-06-17T16:04:50","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T14:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=653556"},"modified":"2026-06-17T16:09:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T14:09:41","slug":"top-tech-jobs-for-graduates-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/technology\/653556-top-tech-jobs-for-graduates-in-south-africa.html","title":{"rendered":"Top tech jobs for graduates in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Software developers, systems or network administrators, and electrical engineers are the most in-demand roles for fresh South African graduates seeking jobs in tech or tech-related fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is according to recruitment and job listing platform Pnet’s Jobs Market Report for June 2026, which included a focus on jobs for the youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report is based on data from Stepstone Group South Africa’s online recruitment platforms, which together have a combined database of approximately 8 million registered users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pnet explained that identifying realistic entry points into employment could be difficult in an increasingly competitive job market. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, although youth unemployment was one of South Africa’s most pressing socio-economic challenges, it found encouraging signs of opportunities for young professionals in the labour market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pnet provided a snapshot of where entry-level job demand existed to help employers better understand emerging talent pipelines and young job seekers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its list of top entry-level jobs for people straight out of school did not include any positions in technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most in-demand roles for those without a tertiary qualification were primarily in admin, office & customer support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For graduates, the three qualifications most attractive to tech-sector recruiters were Systems or Network Administrator, Software Developer, and Electrical Engineer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the two Systems or Network Administrator and Electrical Engineer roles, Pnet said the minimum required qualification was a degree. In software development, a diploma could be sufficient. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One surprising finding in the report was that starting salaries for these roles could be quite low. For example, salaries for junior systems or network administrators ranged from R10,690 to R14,750. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salaries for junior software developers ranged from R12,508 to R23,488 per month, while a starting electrical engineer’s salary was between R11,682 and R24,545.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That being said, the typical salary ranges for these positions were significantly higher than for the entry-level jobs for non-graduates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Qualification<\/th>Discipline<\/th>Job role<\/th><\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Systems\/Network Administrator<\/td>Information Technology<\/td>Junior Technician (Entry-level)
IT Hardware Support \u2014 Entry-level
Junior IT Administrator<\/td>		R10,690\u2013R14,750<\/td><\/tr>
Software Developer<\/td>Information Technology<\/td>Junior Software Engineer
Automation Tester (Entry Level)
Full Stack Developer (Entry Level)<\/td>		R12,508\u2013R23,488<\/td><\/tr>
Electrical Engineer<\/td>Engineering<\/td>Junior Electrical Engineer
Entry-level Electrical Engineer
Electrical Engineering Graduate <\/td>		R11,682\u2013R24,545<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tertiary qualifications shortage in IT and engineering<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Pnet’s April 2026 report found South Africa’s jobs market had a significant and persistent disconnect between available talent and qualifications sought by employers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

54% of job adverts posted on Stepstone’s platforms over the 12 months preceding that report required a bachelor’s degree or post-graduate degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only 36% of applicants had the necessary level of qualification. The information technology (IT), engineering, and medical and health sectors faced the most severe talent shortages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Some 60% of advertised IT jobs require a bachelor’s or post-graduate degree, but only 42% of applicants have these qualifications,” Pnet said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recruitment bottlenecks were particularly prevalent for specialised roles, including technical and business architects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While hiring activity in certain IT disciplines moderated in recent years, Pnet said there was still intense competition for highly skilled tech professionals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the civil, structural, and electrical engineering industry, there was also a significant mismatch between labour demand and talent supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Nearly 80% of advertised roles require a bachelor’s or post-graduate degree, but only 48% of applicants meet the requirement,” Pnet said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This contributes to fierce competition for talent across the infrastructure, construction and industrial sectors.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mismatch in qualifications and talent on Stepstone <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pnet’s Jobs Market Report for June 2026 focused on job opportunities for graduates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341042,"featured_media":653592,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[105863,29744,27945,1257,97613,105346,29686,101533,105864,35065],"class_list":["post-653556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-electrical-engineer","tag-engineer","tag-engineering-jobs","tag-it-jobs","tag-pnet","tag-pnet-jobs-market-report","tag-software-developer","tag-software-development-jobs","tag-stepstone-group-south-africa","tag-tech-jobs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653556"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341042"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653556"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653556\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":653693,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653556\/revisions\/653693"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/653592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=653556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=653556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}