One of SA's most strategic industry sectors - telecoms - could be heading for collapse unless urgent steps are taken to train more engineers and technicians who understand today's rapidly changing telecoms environment.
This is according to industry players, who also point out that there are no specific degrees or diploma courses in SA for telecommunications engineers.
“Virtually every higher education institution in this country offers some kind of information technology training. Add to this the wide range of internationally recognised and accredited IT qualifications that are provided by vendors and manufacturers of IT systems,” says Graeme Victor, CEO of Du Pont Telecom.
“Now contrast that with the fact that almost all training for telecoms technicians is provided in-house by telecoms companies. Telkom and Neotel in particular have good training programmes in place. However, their focus - of necessity - is on skilling individuals to deal with their specific products and solutions - rather than to provide a broad understanding of all aspects of telecommunications,” he adds.
According to the 2012 Telecommunications Survey, carried out by Landelahni Business Leaders, a member of the global Amrop executive search group, there is a critical shortage of the technical skills needed to support the fast pace of telecommunications growth sweeping across SA and the African continent.
“Information and communications technology is a precondition for socio-economic development and national competitiveness. However, a shortage of key skills is a huge constraint,” says Sandra Burmeister, CEO of Landelahni Amrop.
Victor says the skills challenge in the telecoms sector is being exacerbated by technology convergence, as voice and data are increasingly being run over the same network.
“Most of today's telecoms technicians have been trained to work in an analogue environment - and that skill is still required today. However, they don't understand the data world,” Victor points out.
At the same time, he adds, the IT technicians and engineers who are trained to design, implement and maintain data networks and systems have virtually no in-depth understanding of the telecoms or voice world.
“The result is that converged voice or data systems are not being designed properly, are not maintained as they should be, and when things go wrong, no one knows how to fix it because they don't know what is causing the problem,” he says.
“We urgently need the various institutions that offer technical training to revise their training programmes and equip their students to function effectively in today's and tomorrow's converged telecoms world.”
To compensate for the lack of graduates with the right qualifications entering the workforce, telecommunications companies have been active in developing in-company training programmes, says Burmeister.
“The telecoms sector has, for several years, outstripped the all-industry average when it comes to in-company training at all job levels. Training of skilled employees, at 67.7%, outstrips the industry average of 40.4%. However, training of black and female staff lags the all-industry average,” she concludes.
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