2022 South Africa Critical Skills List: A Brief Overview

Background

The South Africa Department of Home Affairs has implemented a new Critical Skills List effective 1 February 2022, replacing the 2014 Critical Skills List that had been effective since 3 June 2014. The review of the Critical Skills List (CSL) came about because the 2014 list was outdated due to many factors, including but not limited to, economic development, successful skills development programmes, increased influx of graduates into the South African economy and the COVID-19 pandemic. At the beginning of 2021, the South African government started working with the relevant stakeholders to create a new list that was in line with the current skills needs of the country to support the growth of the economy.

 

Changes to the Critical Skills List

We have noted significant changes between the 2014 list and the 2022 list. For example, the list has reduced significantly. The 2014 list made provision for approximately 215 occupations while the 2022 list makes provision for only 101 occupations. The most notable categories that have been removed are in the medical, trades and academic fields, with all medical doctors, pharmacists, veterinarians, general nurses and doctorate holders (both acquired locally and abroad) being removed from the list. Perhaps this is an indication that the country now has an excess of these skills and, as such, they are no longer critical. It will take time to ascertain the impact of the removal of these skills.

One of the notable and perhaps logical inclusions we have seen is the addition of multimedia designer and multimedia specialists’ occupations. The last few years have seen many businesses move online due to the impact of the pandemic. As a result, multimedia skills have become pertinent to ensure businesses can produce high-quality online content for their customers.

The government has responded to skills shortages in the corporate sphere, which had not been addressed previously in the CSL. Corporate services, such as accounting and tax, are being provided by South African companies on a global scale and as a result it may be critical to ensure that top talent is recruited to keep South Africa competitive at an international level in the corporate market.

We have seen new inclusions in the business, economics and management classification, including corporate treasurers, tax specialists, internal auditors, supply and distribution managers, directors of large and medium-sized entities, policy planning managers, forensic accountants, market research analysts, investment managers, investment analysts and business development officers.

It is also no surprise that most information communication technology (ICT) occupations have remained, with even more inclusions seen in data management. With the increasing use of IT infrastructure, skills will be needed to ensure that South Africa can keep up with both the demand and the global developments in the IT-sphere. This is also an area of priority for the government as South Africa currently has a number of data centres in development that will require experts to set up, operate and service.

Most engineering occupations also remain on the list, which could be a clear indicator that the government expects to see infrastructural growth in South Africa in mining and civil infrastructure, amongst others. This is also supported by the inclusion of educators, senior university lecturers and teachers in this field. Science, technology and engineering continue to be challenging fields and South Africa continues to rely on foreign skills for sustainability.

 

Critical Skills Work Visa Eligibility

It must be noted that the government has raised the bar for individuals to be eligible for Critical Skills Work Visa (CSWV) as the standard academic qualifications requirement has been raised. For the first time, some skills require a minimum of a master’s degree to be issued with such a visa. The implication is that people who previously qualified on certain positions with a certificate, diploma or bachelor’s degree may not qualify. This is the case for some mining engineering positions, as well as all of the management positions that have been added. The priority here is to attract top talent.

 

Biggest winners from the Critical Skills List changes

Some of the biggest winners in this initiative to attract much-needed skills include: 

• • • Accounting and tax firms
    • Business Process Outsourcing (BPO firms with language specialists)
    • Corporate law firms offering tax services
    • Corporate South Africa

Accounting firms will be major beneficiaries as they will now be able to hire top talent from abroad. Many major accounting firms dip into the foreign labour market to recruit young talent, including young South Africans who then relocate to countries such Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the U.S. and the UK.

Call centres with foreign-language speakers have been major winners from this new list. Initial drafts made available to the public suggested that the entire occupation of foreign language specialists would be removed. We welcome their re-introduction on the list as many businesses in South Africa rely on foreign language speaking staff to maintain contact with the clients abroad.

 

Conclusion

An undeniable fact in the publication of the 2022 Critical Skills List is that businesses will be able to source top talent from abroad whilst also developing such talent locally. Additionally, it may result in major law firms and tax consultancies having bases in South Africa to support their clients globally.

Corporate South Africa will also benefit as the list suggests there is a desire to accommodate business needs in the South African economy. Many companies can benefit from having employees with global experience.

Finally, entities that compete or provide services on a global scale have been highly accommodated in this new list. This may be an indication of where the government believes South Africa is heading.

Need to Know More?

 

For further information on this topic, please contact Caroline Kanzara at [email protected] or Khayelihle Amkelwe Moyo at [email protected]. This blog was published on 14 February 2022, and due to the circumstances, there are frequent changes. To keep up to date with all the latest updates on global immigration, please visit our dedicated COVID-19 site, subscribe to our alerts and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.