Page 38 - EngineerIT December 2022

NEWS DIGEST

Economic headwinds and labour law requirements

need not paralyse businesses

By Diane van Zyl, Lead: Smart Skills Sourcing at Altron Karabina

hile the business confidence index in South Africa rose in July, signalling the
gradual return of normal business activity, the volatile rand, increasing rates
Wand price pressures across the board are holding many businesses back from
investing in crucial skills needed to complete their recovery and grow their business.
However, without those skills, they won’t grow and so there’s a need to redesign the
process of getting skills into businesses in a short amount of time so that their impact is
felt quickly.
A chronic skills shortage in the technology sector makes this exceedingly difficult. The
amount of time and resources that businesses must invest just to find the right candidate,
and then retain the candidate in a highly competitive environment, is often more than
many organisations can bear. Beyond this, hiring full-time staff may carry too much risk -
especially if a new project or opportunity only spans six or 12 months.
Only recently, a partner business - much like many other businesses in the country - Diane van Zyl
found themselves in dire need of critical IT skills. The irony is that the business was forced
to undergo a retrenchment process as a result of the pandemic squeezing the life out of and top skills without the long-term
the organisation’s sector. However, today the business has an opportunity to scale but is commitment of hiring.
still not in a position to make a long-term commitment. The programme is underpinned
On the other hand, it’s not only businesses that are recovering that need IT skills by the understanding that IT skills are
urgently. Sometimes businesses just need additional technical capacity to deliver on highly specialised and go far beyond
projects, without the need to create new jobs. what recruiters can glean from a CV.
How then, does one navigate this delicate environment where skills are needed to Beyond that, as consultants, one must
make an immediate impact without the burden of embarking on a long-term employment also understand that a certain type of
journey? candidate would be ideal in a customer-
Of course, companies could engage independent contractors directly, or work with facing role, while others are better suited
recruitment agencies. Technical IT skills, be these data scientists, software engineers or to backroom work. Harnessing this acute
any other specialised position, are notoriously difficult to come by precisely because knowledge of the IT industry, in the
what a CV says and what a candidate can provide are not always the same. This is not context of the critical skills shortage, our
a criticism of recruitment agencies or any other intermediary that assists with sourcing Smart Skills Sourcing offering provides
skills, rather, it is a recognition that a thorough technical assessment by in-the-field businesses with an alternative, and
experts is generally required before businesses can even consider a candidate or they will highly effective and efficient route to
be stuck with contractor churn and wasted time and resources. filling key roles in their organisations and
Altron Karabina has built a reputation for delivering successful implementations of projects, without the need to onboard
solutions across a wide range of industries. One of the key drivers behind this has been and manage the talent - which is all
our recognition that top-tier skills are non-negotiable. With this, we pioneered the Smart managed by the Altron Karabina Smart
Skills Sourcing programme that plugs the gap for businesses that need agility, speed Skills Sourcing team.

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