Skills shortage alarming, Solidarity warns
Trade union Solidarity warned today that Eskom's plans to take action against the growing skills crisis in the company may possibly be too late and that this may cost the company and the country dearly. Solidarity criticised the company and said that it has been warned about the skills shortage for several years and that skilled personnel are now approaching retirement, but that these warnings fell on deaf ears.
Solidarity's reaction follows after an announcement from Malusi Gigaba, Minister of Public Enterprises, who said that more than a third of Eskom's artisans, technicians and engineers are approaching retirement.
Solidarity further warned that the increasing need for skills in Eskom may cause additional problems for the company. It was recently announced that Eskom will require approximately 3 000 scientists and engineers as well as 24 000 artisans for the government's nuclear energy project.
The trade union described Gigaba's intention to reach transformation targets as irresponsible. Solidarity maintains that available skills should enjoy priority in this crisis.
The shortage of skills in South Africa reached alarming proportions over recent years. Solidarity already gave a warning four years ago concerning the extent of the shortage of engineers and artisans. In South Africa there is only one engineer for every 3 200 people, while countries such as India and China have one engineer for every 150 people and in Europe the number is approximately one engineer for every 250 to 300 people. In Australia, artisans earn up to three times as much as their counterparts in South Africa.