Sthembiso Kubheka (not real name) employed by a coal mining company in Secunda, says he is concerned about losing his job, if his company closes down in a few years.
His company is among the recipients of the Just Energy agreement, set to bring an estimated €15m (about R293m) to South Africa via the Climate Initiative funded by European partners.
In February, the Premier of Mpumalanga, announced the Fortune 40 Programme, which is set to benefit youth, women and people with disability. According to a Government communique issued at the time of the announcement, the Mpumalanga province alone, is expected to create at least 90 000 job opportunities within the next 15 months.
A step in the right direction in setting measurable targets, according to a report by Taylor Hopkinson’s Alice Yoeurp.
The report predicted an exponential growth of jobs created in the green sector for the period of 2017 to 2020. The International Labor Organization (ILO) reported 12,7 million jobs created in the renewable energy sector aline in 2022. Approximately 24 million jobs are expected to be created globally by 2030.
The Taylor Hopkinson’s report titled “tackling skills shortage focused on the renewable energy sector by 2020” also made recommendations to close the skills gap amidst a rising demand for green energy and associated technologies.
Countries predicted to experience major growth are China, the USA, UK, Netherlands, Taiwan and Spain with several thousands of jobs to be created annually.
The number of jobs need skills development for the new sectors.
“It has already been recognised as an issue for renewable energy companies and could continue to grow.”
A survey conducted back in 2017, with more than 1100 professionals working in the renewable energy sector, found regardless of whether it is a permanent or a contractual role,
most professionals in the renewable energy sector got their jobs via referrals, recruitment agencies and LinkedIN.
“We also note that there is a higher percentage of contractors who use referrals (38%) and recruitment agencies (36%) compared
to permanent professionals (respectively 29% and 24%).”
Countries like Brazil, for example, a trade partner of South Africa, set a target of 40% of the jobs in the city to be ‘green’ by 2030.
South Africa has set to create about 1,8 million jobs by 2030, 1.1-million of those jobs in the buildings, power and sustainable transport sectors.
The Skills Development for a Green Economy II (SD4GE II) is one of several initiatives working to support transformation towards more employment-oriented dual training approaches in South Africa.
Follow part 2 of this article with interviews from local organizations working to bridge the skills gap in the green market.