Procorre, a global professional services consultancy, manages the whole lifecycle of a wide variety of projects within a range of industries and in large parts of the world. Within Africa, Procorre works with the energy, mining, telecoms and IT industries to help clients overcome challenges and assist with expatriate opportunities. Because of these close ties to the continent, they were particularly interested to hear the results of a recent survey by MyBroadband, which looked at qualifications and salaries in South Africa. The results showed that project managers, software engineers, programmers and analysts have seen the highest salary rises on average. 5,867 South Africans were included in the survey, with the majority of this number having completed a tertiary qualification. Starting salaries are of course important, but a burgeoning IT career is more clearly defined by the annual salary increases.
Research Findings
The findings from the research also revealed some interesting facts about the most promising areas for IT professionals working within South Africa. Technology support employees came off worst, with low starting salaries coupled with small annual salary increases. Analysts fared much better, enjoying both a relatively high starting salary and good prospects in terms of annual increases. While IT communications and media roles may offer fairly low rates to begin with, the prospects for increases mean that over time these salaries will become far higher.
Analysts, consultants, programmers, software developers and project managers see the highest increases in salary according to the survey. In the middle are those working in database design and administration, sales and marketing, internet, ecommerce and website management, communications, networks and security, while the lowest salary increases are in systems administration, website and graphic design, education, training and research and tech support.
Demand for Skilled Workers
According to the latest Career Junction index, demand for skilled workers in the IT sector is also on the rise. The index showed a 4% increase in demand when taken as an average across all sectors. However, the IT and telecoms industry alongside the finance industry saw notably higher rises in demand. This was offset by the construction sector, which saw demand drop by around 50% in the year from June 2015 to June 2016. The top employment sectors within South Africa in terms of demand are currently IT, mining, medical and engineering, followed by building and construction.
Within the IT and Telecoms sector there has been an increase in vacancy levels over the year of more than 23% and in the Finance industry of around 15%. Within the Manufacturing, HR and Recruitment and Engineering sectors, demand has stabilised over the same time period, while the Motor, FMCG, Retail and Distribution sectors have less demand now than a year ago.
Average Salaries by Sector
Each year Career Junction release an index which details the average salaries across ten main sectors. While salaries can vary hugely depending on the particular role played within each sector, this acts as a guideline showing the lowest and highest one can expect to be paid.
- Admin, office and support workers: R5,259 (tellers and cashiers) to R32,025 (office managers)
- Building and construction: R13,868 (plumbers, pipes and steam fitting) to R69,841 (structural engineering)
- Design, media and the arts: R14,248 (TV, video and movie operators) to R41,261 (producers and directors)
- Engineering: R27,404 (chemical engineers) to R69,841 (structural engineers)
- Finance: R12,400 (insurance advisors to R67,500 (treasury managers)
- Marketing: R13,639 (marketing assistants) to R48,333 (market analysts and researchers)
- Manufacturing and assembly: R11,278 (abattoir workers) to R44,693 (plant managers)
- Sales: R9,892 (retail employees) to R44,584 (sales managers)
- Warehousing and logistics: R7,225 (distribution and courier service workers) to R49,306 (logistics managers) [8]
- IT & telecoms: R19,910 (networking planning, design and installation) to R58,659 (senior technical and business architecture workers)
R100 is equivalent to approximately £5.74 in UK currency. All figures come from a database of actual salaries from over 30,000 jobs listed. It should be noted that within the IT sector, those in junior positions could well earn less than the quoted figure, while those at the top of the ladder have the potential to earn much more than the stated maximum.
Career Junction stated that IT professionals are in extremely high demand throughout South Africa at present, in particular software developers and programmers. Those with skills and experience in C# and .NET are at the forefront of this demand, although competition for the best roles remains fierce. The administration and middle management sectors also have high demand and strong competition hand in hand.
Procorre 