JOHANNESBURG: South Africa remains amongst the countries with the highest unemployment rates in the world.

Data released at the end of March shows that the country’s official unemployment rate rose 0.4 percentage points to a record 35.3% in the fourth quarter of last year.

The data was published by Statistics South Africa.

However, several local companies continue to raise concerns that they are struggling to find skilled workers for their industries.

According to credit rating agency Moody’s, this can be attributed to a massive skills mismatch in the country.

“Low education levels and obstacles in hiring foreign workers weigh on the supply side of the labour market as companies struggle to find qualified workers. On the demand side, strong labour unions and wage-bargaining arrangements that lack cross-sector coordination also drive up wages.”

Moody’s noted that the government has tried to support employment through a number of initiatives, such as a new mining charter, the Black Business Supplier Development Programme and the Youth Employment Service programme, which could generate cyclical improvements.

Companies in the technology sector are still finding it hardest to fill vacancies in positions that included:

-Software developers

-Computer network technicians

-Developer programmers

-Computer network and systems engineers

Darul Ihsan Media Desk