National Scarce Skills List Foreword

In publishing this, the first National Master Scarce Skills List for South Africa , the Ministry of Labour is able to give a comprehensive account of the skills that lie at the heart of the binding constraint on economic growth and development1. his List reflects the skills that are most needed in our country and on which we need to focus efforts on ac!uiring and developing. he National Master Scarce Skills List brings together a number of labour market demand side identification processes and represents a growing coherence across government and economic sector actors in identifying and forecasting skills demand. here is a twin foundation for the Master Scarce Skills List. he first lies in the adoption of a clear definition for "carce and #ritical "kills, initially drafted and developed between the $epartment and its skills development sectoral intermediaries, the "% &s. hese definitions were then negotiated and amended with relevant line departments in the "kills committee of the government's economic cluster, i.e. between the $epartment of Labour and the $epartments of %ducation, (ome &ffairs, )ublic %nterprises, "cience * echnology, and rade * Industry. he second lies in the adoption by the $epartment of Labour of the +rganising ,ramework of +ccupations which "% &s have utili-ed in the drafting of their . /ear "ector "kills )lans. his ,ramework allows different economic sectors to identify and forecast skills shortages at a sufficiently detailed and meaningful level of the occupation for a variety of strategies to be designed to address the scarcity.

Defining scarce and critical skills

In respect of the agreed definition refers to an absolute or relative demand0 current or in future1 for skilled1 !ualified and e2perienced people to fill particular roles3professions, occupations or specialisations in the labour market. "carce skills are usually measured in terms of occupation or !ualification. 4oth 5occupation' and 5!ualification' have the merit of being relatively straightforward to measure and readily understood. while critical skills refer to particular capabilities needed within an occupation, for e2ample,
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$eputy )resident at launch of the 6I)"& initiative, March 7889.

general management skills, communication and customer handling skills, team:work skills, communication technology skills. he $epartment of Labour has also included a differentiation between absolute and relative scarcity of skills in the definition0 ;a< Absolute scarcity refers to suitably skilled people who are not available in the labour market. "pecific conte2ts in which absolute scarcities may arise include0 & new or emerging occupation, i.e. there are few, if any, people in the country with the re!uisite skills. ,irms, sectors and even the national economy are unable to implement planned growth strategies because productivity, service delivery and !uality problems are directly attributable to a lack of skilled people. =eplacement demand would reflect an absolute scarcity where there are no people enrolled or engaged in the process of ac!uiring skills that need to be replaced ;$oL, 7889c<. ;b< Relative scarcity refers, for e2ample, to the conte2t where suitably skilled people are in fact available in the labour market but they do not e2hibit other employment criteria, for e2ample0 (igh:level work e2perience , for e2ample pro>ect management of large construction sites such as dams or power plants. ?eographical location, for e2ample, people are unwilling to work outside of urban areas. %!uity considerations, for e2ample, there are few if any candidates with the re!uisite skills from specific groups available to meet the skills re!uirements of firms and enterprises ;$oL, 7889c<. o accommodate the a focus to the priority areas identified by 6oint Initiative for )riority "kills "& ;6I)"&<1 the skills focus agreed that priority skills refer to the scarce and critical skills that are needed at a point in time1 and that will be established through the scarce and critical skills identification processes

Process of developing the National Scarce Skills List

he @ational "carce "kills List was prepared by the $epartment of Labour drawing relevant data from "% & "ector "kills )lans. #ontributions were received from several other government departments, including (ome &ffairs and the $epartments of rade and Industry, )ublic %nterprises and "cience and echnology. &dditional data obtained from other government departments was used largely to validate the scarcities identified in the "% & "ector "kills )lans that had been highlighted in the National Scarce Skills List. "% &s had identified scarcity using the above definitions and through a process of research and stakeholder consultation. he $epartment acknowledges that this first Scarce Skills List is an indicative list. In keeping

with the $epartment's adoption of a labour market demand signaling system and process, the List consists of occupational titles against which scarcity has been identified. @umbers have not been assigned to the scarcity e2cept for the purpose of the Aork )ermit Buota List to be published by the $epartment of (ome &ffairs. he $epartment is currently already engaged in a process of updating this first List based on "% &'s "ector "kills )lan Cpdates. he scarce skills information reflected in these )lans and mechanisms for identifying scarcity have been improved through the e2perience and lessons learnt during the development of the first List and it is the intention of the $epartment to assist "% &s to ensure that the scarce skills signaling processes and data are substantively updated, reliable and serve their sectoral and national purposes.

Purpose of the National Scarce Skills List

he List is intended to serve several purposes0 1. ,or the $epartment of Labour and its statutory skills development intermediaries, the national list provides a set of indicators for skills development interventions 7. ,or the $epartment of %ducation and public education and training institutions, the national list provides a set of indicators for course development and career guidance that should be provided to learners and communities, including schools, ,% #olleges, Cniversities, Cniversities of echnology and learners across these institutions D. ,or the $epartment of (ome &ffairs, the national list provides a basis for establishing the Aork )ermit Buota List and for evaluating employer:sponsored applications for work permits E. ,or the national government and national initiatives such as 6I)"&, the national list begins to provide a platform for targeted interventions and the development of mechanisms to monitor and evaluate both the success and impact of measures aimed at redressing particular scarcities