Engineering positions were still the most difficult for companies to fill, Manpower Group South Africa’s Talent Shortage Survey 2013 has shown.

Although drivers and skilled trades were second and third in 2012, management positions and teachers had taken these spots this year.

“This does not necessarily mean that the lack of candidates for the positions have been filled, just that different sectors of the economy may be experiencing better growth or decline this year," Manpower Group South Africa MD Lyndy van den Barselaar explained.

Making up the rest of the top ten most difficult positions to fill were legal staff; skilled trades; accounting and finance staff; restaurant and hotel staff; technicians, customer services representatives and customer support staff; and information technology staff.

"It seems almost unreal that, in a country with unemployment hovering around the 25% mark, we should still suffer job shortages; however, a lack of technical competencies remains a big problem for employees.

“This is particularly evident this year in the upper formal sectors in areas such as management, teachers and legal staff. Although sufficient training and expertise is one factor to the shortages, brain drain or insufficient job attractiveness are driving these professionals to other job sectors or employment outside South Africa, causing a vacuum," Van den Barselaar stated.

Further, 72% of respondents said the impact of not filling these positions had a medium to high impact on their business, with 2% indicating that it would have no impact.

Van den Barselaar indicated that the survey also revealed some of the reasons behind employers finding it difficult to fill positions, with 58% of employers stating that they could not fill positions owing to a lack of hard skills or technical competencies and 45% attributing it to a lack of applicants, as a result of factors such as skills shortages.

About 30% of employers also highlighted the fact that 33% of employees lacked industry-specific qualifications or certifications in a professional field and that 29% lacked experience. A further 20% cited a lack of industry-specific qualifications or certifications in skilled trades.

"There is a global skills shortage problem. This means that those with the skills are often attracted away from South Africa to other countries with more lucrative job prospects where the skills are also in demand. However, the private sector is also finding its own solutions to the problem," Van den Barselaar pointed out.

Meanwhile, 60% of respondents said they were adapting talent sourcing to recruit candidiates from untapped talent pools and 42% said they were redefining their qualifying criteria to include individuals who lacked some required skills or formal qualifications, but have the potential to acquire them. Thirty-three per cent said they were providing additional training and development to existing staff and almost 20% stated that they were hiring candidates outside of their local region or country.

"Businesses are trying different approaches too; 40% of the companies surveyed said they are partnering with educational institutions to create curricula aligned to their talent needs and 15% said they are using nontraditional, or previously untried recruiting practices, internally and externally, in response to the growing challenge of workforce strategy. Nine per cent of respondents said they are increasing starting salaries or considering new offices or building out existing facilities in areas where the talent is," Van den Barselaar said.

She further warned that, without skills development, job creation would not be nearly as effective as it should be.

“Government needs training programmes and job seekers need accessibility to advice and training for the real world to improve their employability based on current requirements in South Africa's job market," she urged.

The yearly survey is conducted through the survey of 750 South African businesses.