Did you know that South Africa’s unemployment rate is slowly rising to one of the highest in the world?
With that, students of South Africa are actively looking for opportunities and skills that are in high demand both in their country and all around the world.
The main benefit of technology skills is that they can be implemented anywhere with the new normalisation of remote-work. Many learnerships are also now providing remote opportunities in the information technology sector.
You wouldn’t disagree with the fact that, especially since the pandemic hit the world, the technology sector has gained immense scope and has replaced a lot of the offline processes.
From substituting meetups and gatherings with video calls to replacing physical classes with e-learning, we are moving to a more digital world.
The Eight Best Tech Jobs
Technology is the field of innovation and is not limited to social media or engineering, but it has immense scope and revolves around various fields. Some of the highest paying jobs in South Africa are now in the technology sector.
For instance, the ten best tech careers whose demand are rising dramatically in South Africa are.
- IT managers (Information Technology managers).
- Computer Systems Analyst.
- Software Developer.
- Software Engineer.
- Computer Research Scientists and data scientists.
- Information Security Analyst and Data Analysts.
- Machine Learning Engineer or Artificial Intelligence.
- Computer science and computer programming.
6 Reasons Why Students Are Looking at Technology Careers
The top 6 reasons why students are looking at technology careers are.
The World Has Gone Digital
We live in a digitalized world where people cannot stay away from the internet because its need is rising continuously. Numerous apps and software are under development to ease the lifestyle of humanity.
With the urge to move with the world, gain immense success, and not wanting to be left behind, students are becoming interested in pursuing their careers in the tech field.
Technology: The Limitless and Portable Career
The second benefit because of which students are looking towards technology careers is that it is not limited to one area.
For example, if you are a tech specialist, you can find opportunities in marketing, finance, entertainment, and the healthcare sectors. In almost every field, there is a need for tech experts.
Examples Of Technology In Various Fields.
- In the health care sector, medical professionals require continuous tech advancement for earlier diagnosis and treatment of patients. For example, health wearables, artificial organs, and 3D printing are some of the major technological advancements in the health sector.
- Technology is required in pharmaceutical industries for the development and handling of machinery used to manufacture drugs. For example, the use of direct compression machines to formulate tablets.
- When it comes to marketing and entertainment, technology allows marketers and advertisers to generate more compelling and eye-catching ads for the web, TV, and social media. For example, the use of modern editing tools or artificial intelligence like chatbots and SEO.
Technology: As A Portable Career.
Apart from needing the degree, technology is more of a portable career. You don’t always need a particular workplace to utilise your knowledge or earn, but having skills matters the most and brings vast employment opportunities.
Opportunities For Everyone
As mentioned earlier, technology is not limited to one area, but it brings opportunities for everyone. A lot of tvet colleges in south africa are now offering more courses in technology.
From graphic designers, marketing professionals, HR experts, IT-related individuals to programmers and developers, the tech field needs everyone.
The rise in opportunities and demand is motivating students to start their careers in technology.
Tech Is The Field Of Innovation
Technology is an industry that is moving continuously and rapidly towards advancement and development.
It allows a country to prosper faster through the development of new creative product ideas.
While some other careers may cease gradually, the need for innovative products, ideas, and advancement will always remain.
Shortage of Experts
Another most common reason why students are looking forward to tech and particularly IT careers is because of the high demand but a shortage of experts.
According to research by the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa (IITPSA), there is an immense deficiency of ICT professionals.
Moreover, the following fields remained less occupied from the past 12 years in South Africa.
- Software developer.
- ICT system Analyst.
- Computer network and system engineer.
- Programmer Analyst.
- Multimedia designer and advertising specialists.
Great Demand
Although South Africa is in some ways only just starting to experience more of the new digital world, it has been in the global tech markets for years.
Hence, the need for software developers and computer programmers in businesses is growing rapidly, persuading students to choose technology as their career.
What are the benefits of having a career in Technology?
Some of the major benefits of a tech career are:
- Remote work opportunities.
- High demand
- Career flexibility.
- Innovative field.
- Vast opportunities and limited experts.
Rising poverty, unemployment, ground realities, lockdown, and work from home have taken the world, especially less developed countries, in a completely different direction.
Using Technology to Start Your Own Business
Apart from the mainstream technology roles which have been discussed above. Young people are also looking at some more enterprising opportunities that are becoming available with the digital industry.
Everything from making money by selling physical products, either making and selling items online or by purchasing from abroad or wholesales and then marketing the products in a process commonly known as drop-shipping.
Those that are more creative can now make careers in their own content and sharing on one of the many media platforms such as Youtube or Twitter. Wian Magician is one of South Africa’s most followed TikTokers with over 13 million subscribers. This shows the possibilities out there and how you can make money online.
Technology is the most in-demand career offering vast opportunities to students in South Africa as the field has a shortage of experts. That’s the main reason why nowadays, students are looking more towards tech careers as compared to other fields.
