Networking giant, Cisco, this week revealed that its Global Talent Acceleration Programme (GTAP) has increased tenfold since it commenced in 2008.
Nimrod Zalk, acting director-general at the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), commended the company for this feat saying the dire skills shortage in SA is forcing companies to resort to outsourcing for skilled human resources.
Cisco's GTAP programme is supported by the DTI and aims to employ and train South African-based recruits at the professional and associate levels.
According to Zalk, though outsourcing IT professionals offers temporary relief, it has the potential to increase the cost of doing business in the ICT sector.
“Since the ICT sector's capacity is directly linked to the size and skill of the available workforce, there is a need to find a solution that supplements the education system - a solution that is supported by both the industry and government,” he says.
David Meads, GM for Cisco in SA, says: “Instead of importing talent from other regions on a temporary basis, GTAP helps Cisco to provide partners and customers with a long-term solution in the form of a highly-skilled and well-trained local workforce.”
He adds that the skills that GTAP provides to its graduates contribute to the local knowledge infrastructures that are critical for accelerating and sustaining economic growth in SA.
From only 14 graduates in 2008 and 80 in 2010, 140 students are projected to graduate from the GTAP programme this year.
Cisco says GTAP students, referred to as delegates, are recruited from all walks of life - some are professionals with three to five years' work experience, or Cisco partners; while customers also have the opportunity to put their own staff through GTAP.
The company adds that students are also recruited from the most underprivileged communities throughout SA, and, on completion of the programme, all graduates are guaranteed jobs with Cisco partners or customers.
It explains that selected delegates are put through a rigorous 14- to 20-week programme that combines theory, industry exposure and hands-on experience.
The Kelly Group is the recruiting company that advertises for and vets potential delegates. Anyone can apply to join the programme.
The delegates go through the training in relatively small groups of 16 people. “This enables GTAP to put a strong emphasis on technical and professional training, mentorship as well as on-the-job training,” says Cisco.
The training programme covers technical training in areas including data centre, unified communications, routing and switching, it adds.
According to the 2010 Grant Thornton International Business Report, SA has and continues to experience tremendous IT growth.
However, the study shows that lack of availability of a skilled workforce is South African business owners' largest (34%) constraint to growth, for the fourth year in a row.
Furthermore, the report says, many businesses in SA have expressed concern about the lack of skills they are seeing coming from university graduates - resulting in poor performance and a lack of business understanding.
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