Abstract
M.Com. (Economics)
This paper examines two issues: Firstly, it analyses the mismatch between the
demand and the supply of engineers in South Africa (SA) and secondly, it
investigates the availability of engineers (to serve per 100 000 people) in SA during
the period 2000 - 2008. The study applied Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) together
with a battery of Matrix tools.
The findings of this study revealed that both the demand and the supply of engineers
were rising but at varying rates. Results from the mismatch index demonstrated that
the supply index has marginally improved between 2000 and 2008. This discovery
could be relatively ascribed to the surge in engineering graduates from technikons.
Furthermore, the study discovered that the trend of the mismatch index shows a
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negative mismatch between the demand and the supply of engineers in SA. This
may imply that the demand for engineers has been satisfied only by the supply from
universities between 2000 and 2008.
In the light of the shortage of engineers, it was discovered that the need arose
considerably between 2000 and 2008, since population growth escalated more
rapidly than the supply of engineers. Based on these findings the following
recommendations are suggested:
In the short to medium term, the South African government should embark upon
strategies aimed at curbing the exodus of its skilled and experienced engineers.
This could be achieved through the creation of congenial working environments
for local engineers. Financial incentives, in the form of competitive
remuneration, should also be considered.
In the same vein, the South African government needs to re-examine its labour
laws, in order to make significant adjustments which may enable the country to
attract expatriate engineers, without lengthy delays.
In the long run, the South African government needs to broaden the capacity of
both secondary schools and universities in terms of the production of competent
Science teachers and lecturers. In this regard, the South African government could send its Mathematics and Science teachers, lecturers and educators to
countries that are leading these fields for quality training. The most likely
positive outcome of this could be the increased number of competent
Mathematics and Science educators in South Africa, which will in turn translate
into well-equipped matriculants meeting the tougher demands of the
Engineering degree programmes at both technikon and university levels.