Digital skills in South Africa show promise

By Adzuna on 23 April 2018South Africa is often seen as “slow to the party” when it comes to developments in the Internet or digital space. This isn’t necessarily true, and the country has generated large-scale firms that have sold to even bigger international players in recent years.

The industry has definitely advanced, one reason being that the skills needed to grow it are now more readily available. Digital training firm Webgrowth attests to that, with CEO Neil Pursey commenting that around 56% of all students are from previously disadvantaged backgrounds.

A foray of research into digital jobs in South Africa on job aggregator Adzuna shows that the average salary on digital vacancies has grown from around R330,000 in 2017 to R420,562 in February 2018. While it dipped in March 2018 to R393,153, it gained back to R410,509 in mid-April 2018. The results are deemed quite accurate, since logic dictates that digital jobs are almost all advertised online and not offline.

Such large growth is often indicative of an industry that is coming of age, where skills are more readily available and more qualified individuals exist with better qualifications and experience.

However, the average salary in Gauteng has crept up faster to R456,023, much higher that the Western Cape, where R352,400 was recorded, supporting the old argument that Joburg whips Cape Town on the payscales.

Partly, this could be due to the high amount of senior roles at high salaries now available in the north of South Africa. A full sixth (17%) of the digital opportunities listed were in the range of R700,000 and above on an annual salary basis. Job adverts for example for “Head of Digital” and “Senior Digital Consultant” have not been as forthcoming in 2014 as they are now. Again, the percentage was 20% in Gauteng, while only 13% of vacancies were in the highest salary bracket in the Cape.

Many digital “gurus” apparently feel that despite salaries, the Cape is the place to be, with more digital company activity down south. The numbers felt differently, and Gauteng led with almost 1,250 job opportunities, while the Western Cape trailed with 892 and KZN slumped in at 152. The other provinces do not feature in the numbers much at all.

This effectively translates into Gauteng hosting over 50% of the countries digital jobs. It also demonstrates how Gauteng together with the Western Cape and KZN claim over 97% of the country’s digital vacancies. Of all the job ads, the most prominent positions were either in digital marketing (just over 20%) or fitted somehow into the digital media space (around 15%).

For those now despondent that perhaps they are not earning what they should be, or living and working where they should be, consolation lies in the fact that the digital industry generally earns above the national average salary, by around 20%.

Digital skills have grown phenomenally in South Africa, for many reasons. More companies are spending more each year on advertising and other digital exploits, pushing the requirements for skills higher, while more experienced and better qualified job seekers are coming to the fore, having trained at institutions such as Webgrowth. South Africa’s digital future is bright!

SA Airways, along with Finnair, has been awarded IEnvA stage two recognition as a result of its environmental sustainability standards and practices.

Johannesburg, South Africa – This week,South AfricanAirways (SAA) became one of only two global carriers (alongside Finnair) to achieve Stage 2 status of the IATA Environmental Assessment Programme (IEnvA); a comprehensive airline environmental management programme.

IEnvA seeks to introduce sustainability standards that cover all areas of an airline’s operations including air quality and emissions, noise, fuel consumption and efficient operations, recycling, energy efficiency, sustainable procurement, biofuels, and many more. SAA was also one of six airlines to participate in the initial phase (Stage 1) of the programme in June 2013.  

IEnvA is a stringent environmental assessment programme that is based on recognised international environmental management systems such as ISO 14001. It was jointly developed by leading airlines and environmental consultants. SAA has been part of the process from the programme’s genesis and currently chairs the IEnvA Oversight Working Group.   

SAA conducted its Stage 2 assessment in record time, six months prior to the two year deadline. “Participation in the programme and this achievement affirms SAA’s commitment to answering its dual mandate and as a leading African and global airline,” says SAA Acting CEO Mr Nico Bezuidenhout. The IEnvA standards will serve as guidelines for 240 other airlines around the world.   

SAA’s participation in the programme forms part of the <i>Long-Term Turnaround Strategy</i> with a dual mandate focus. Last year, the airline launched the first African biofuels project, which focused on the transformation of tobacco oil into jet fuel, with sector role players. “Responsible environmental management has the potential to deliver commercially beyond the clear social and environmental benefit. Projects such as the tobacco biofuels venture could provide several future commercial impetus ranging from input cost benefits through to the value of technology,” adds Mr Bezuidenhout.  

The initiative was followed by the introduction of new fuel efficient navigation approaches (RNP-AR: Required Navigational Performance, Authorisation Required). “The enhanced aircraft approaches’ fuel savings provide immediate bankable fuel savings.” Inside the organisation there is also an on-going drive to embed a culture of environmental sustainability with policy directing the airline toward ultimate emission reduction leadership in both continental and global aviation industries.  

SA Airways plans to continue demonstrating its commitment to its mandate concomitant to the carrier’s environmental programme. “IEnvA is a robust programme that effectively cuts through the complexities of the aviation sector. It is inspiring to our staff, a positive step for the industry and attractive to travellers. The initiative will ultimately be good for business and is a step toward ensuring future-proofing of aviation,” says Mr Bezuidenhout.   

Note to journalists:

IEnvA has been developed in conjunction with airlines so that it addresses industry needs and specific concerns. IEnvA assesses environmental performance against sustainability standards across a broad range of disciplines including (but not limited to) the management of air quality and emissions, noise, fuel consumption and operational efficiency, recycling, energy efficiency, sustainable procurement, and biofuel utilisation. As a result, IEnvA helps airlines to simplify regulatory compliance, demonstrate good governance and achieve financial savings by ensuring the better use of resources. IEnvA implementation followed a phased approach due to the complexity and global presence of airlines as well as the number of role players and touch points. There are two implementation phases:  

Stage 1: 

Stage 1 ensures that an airline has developed the foundation and framework for its environmental management system. Stage 1 also certifies that an airline has identified and complied with its environmental legal requirements.   

Stage 2:

IEnvA Stage 2 assessment, the highest level of IEnvA achievement, ensures that an airline has implemented all of the IEnvA Programme Standards, has identified and mitigated its significant environmental impacts and has set performance targets. Stage 2 also certifies that an airline has developed processes for monitoring and reviewing its performance against its targets and objectives, thus driving environmental efficiency.   

About South African Airways (SAA) 

South African Airways (SAA) is the leading carrier in Africa, serving 57 destinations, in partnership with SA Express, SA Airlink and its low cost carrier, Mango, within South Africa and across the continent, and ten intercontinental routes from its Johannesburg hub. It is a member of the largest international airline network, Star Alliance. SAA’s core business is the provision of passenger airline and cargo transport services together with related services, which are provided through SAA and its wholly owned subsidiaries: SAA Technical; Mango its low cost carrier; and Air Chefs, the catering entity of SAA. SAA is the winner of the 'Best Airline in Africa’ Award in the regional category for twelve consecutive years and the winner of ‘Service Excellence Africa’ for three years. Mango and SAA hold the number one and number two successive spots as South Africa’s most on-time airlines.    

Issued by SAA Communications  

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Tel: +27 82 333 3880

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