The 2025 Critical Skills Survey shows the severity of the skills shortage is increasing in SA, with engineering and ICT professionals being the most sought-after roles.
The survey, conducted by expatriate solutions firm Xpatweb, in collaboration with the Department of Home Affairs and the Department of Higher Education and Training, is based on 381 respondents from cross-sector organisations, including JSE-listed companies and large multinational groups.
The findings, announced during a webinar yesterday, reveal the extent of South Africa’s critical skills shortage, and the role that foreign nationals play in bridging these gaps. The findings help inform government’s National Critical Skills List, a key tool for attracting international talent to South Africa.
According to the survey, an increasing number of companies in SA are struggling to recruit critically-skilled professionals and are being forced to look beyond the country’s borders, compared to 2024.
It reveals that 84% of large corporations and multinational companies experience challenges in sourcing highly-skilled talent, a jump from 79% in 2024.
In the list of the 10 most difficult roles to fill, ICT professionals (22%) are the second most in demand after engineers (38%).This is followed by artisans (21%); financial professionals (19%); foreign language speakers (15%); media and marketing (15%); healthcare professionals (13%); science professionals (11%); science, technology, engineering and mathematics teachers (8%); and C-suite executives (6%).
Speaking during the webinar, Marisa Jacobs, MD of Xpatweb, noted the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Future of Jobs Report identifies artificial intelligence (AI), big data, cyber security and digital literacy as the fastest-growing skill areas over the next five years. SA’s skills shortages mirror global shifts, she pointed out.
“We can see a growing demand for digital skills, particularly in the AI space, reflecting the shift we are seeing in the global talent market.
“The critical skills shortage is a supply and demand issue. We are not saying these skills don't exist in South Africa; of course they do. The demand in the labour market for these skills outweighs the supply. We have brilliant engineers and we have brilliant ICT professionals in South Africa, but we are not producing enough of them year-on-year.
“There is data to show that, to fill the demand of the labour market, we should be producing a certain number of graduates per year and we are way behind on those numbers. We are not even producing half of what is needed to fill the demand in the market.
“When we bring foreign talent in, the ability for that talent to upskill locals is high, and then they get absorbed into the workforce. For every skilled foreigner we bring into South Africa, in the critical skills area, we create six skilled or semi-skilled jobs for South Africans.”
Global talent
The current 22% of surveyed participants who have a shortage of ICT specialists is up from 14% in 2024 and 10% two years ago, notes the survey. The most in-demand ICT roles include data analysts, data scientists, software engineers and IT engineers.
In the engineering field, the demand ranges from maintenance and industrial engineers to mechanical engineering technicians and electrical engineering technologists. In 2025, that figure surged to 38%, marking a rise from 2018, when only 14% reported difficulty in attracting engineering talent.
Science professionals are also becoming harder to find, with 11% of respondents citing persistent vacancies, up from 9% in 2024. Within this group, food scientists (16%) and actuarial scientists (9%) are also scarce.
The majority of survey participants recognise the importance of global hiring, with 84% saying international recruitment is essential to meet business needs, although 77% cite some difficulties with the work visa process.
Meanwhile, 82% indicate the occupations on the National CriticalSkills List cater fully or to some degree for their business needs.
The 2025 National Critical Skills list underpins the Critical Skills Work Visa system, which is instrumental in streamlining and expediting the process for companies to recruit qualified foreign workers to SA.
It is therefore crucial that the list accurately reflects the current skills gaps experienced by local businesses, said Jacobs.
“In today’s highly-competitive and borderless labour market, businesses must adopt a proactive approach to immigration to secure the talent that drives innovation and success. For South African businesses, the ability to attract, integrate and retain mobile professionals from abroad remains critical to sustaining economic competitiveness and long-term development,” the survey finds.
Currently, 89% of surveyed employers say unfilled critical skills roles are negatively affecting operations, from lost productivity and delayed projects, to missed growth opportunities.
While over 80% say international searches would help, the immigration system still causes bottlenecks. Delays at South African embassies or visa facilitation centres, and professional registration requirements are frequently cited as problematic.
“It is crucial for the South African economy as a whole and individual businesses to attract and hire foreign professionals without undue delays to ensure smooth business operations,” Jacobs concluded.
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