Page 5 - EngineerIT December 2022

ICT

Fighting South Africa’s tech skills

gap with solutions that deliver value

By Alison Palmer, head of HR at Dariel Software

he global IT skills shortage is real and not going away. According to a May 2022
McKinsey report, an overwhelming majority of companies worldwide (87%) are
Taware that they either already have a skills gap or will have one within a few
years. Closer to home, horrifying unemployment figures and international research
shows that skills shortages are among the most significant business risks facing South
African organisations today. It is clear that more needs to be done to create an enabling
environment for young people to find work.

According to the South African 2021 JCSE-IITPSA ICT Skills Survey:
“The COVID-19 pandemic has given an enormous boost to digital transformation in many
sectors. Who would have imagined 18 months ago that millions of South Africans would
be working online, buying their groceries, visiting doctors and appearing in court via digital
platforms? Our society – or at least that part of it that has decent connectivity – has gone
digital and huge opportunities have arisen for companies and professionals that make this
all possible.”
Alison Palmer
Tackling systemic issues
Even though it may be tempting to blame the education environment, the problem is advanced software engineers support
much more systemic than that. For instance, tertiary institutions spend a lot of their time their learning. Such is the intensity
educating students on the theoretical knowledge required to earn a valuable degree. And of DEAP, that graduates reach an
while this is important, it is the practical element that invariably falls by the wayside. intermediate software engineering level
Software engineering is an excellent example of this: graduates may know how to code within 18 months.
but may also lack the understanding of what this means in the real world. Very few have The secret sauce behind this success is
insight into what it takes to run a project or how the theoretical methodologies work under focusing on giving graduates the practical
specific business conditions. Of course, nobody expects someone fresh from university to knowledge essential to be relevant in a
have much experience, but the transition from full-time study to working as a software digitally-driven job environment. It takes
engineer is significant. the theoretical foundation provided by
tertiary institutions and enhances it with
Graduate programmes for the real world an intensity designed to encourage and
Graduate programmes fulfil a critical part in providing graduates with opportunities to get promote learning and skills acquisition.
started on the journey of gaining the practical knowledge and experience necessary to
carve out career paths. Narrow the gap, widen
However, some programmes run the risk of merely becoming ‘intern mills’ which churn opportunities
out resources that are simply assigned to corporate clients. Closing the skills gap requires an array of
Dariel is at the forefront of providing great working opportunities where qualified approaches, from formal and informal
professionals can take their careers to new heights. It also makes significant contributions in mentoring and exposure to real live
other areas that assist in addressing skills shortages. projects, to training and certification.
The Dariel Engineer Acceleration Programme (DEAP) has been designed to provide The road to managing skills
a supportive, learning environment for junior software engineering graduates. Since its development, job creation, and bridging
inception in 2014, the annual programme has already given rise to more than 80 talented the gap from university to the world of
and passionate engineers. work is fraught with obstacles. Fresh
Through DEAP, Dariel has enhanced the traditional graduate programme as we know prospects, like Dariel’s DEAP programme,
it. Recruitment to join DEAP entails a rigorous niche selection process from thousands of afford talented software engineers an
applicants across the top tertiary institutions in the country. Of those, offers are extended opportunity to overcome these challenges
to the top candidates. with broadening scope and exposure in
These individuals are immersed in a dynamic environment that provides extensive a safe environment, to operate within a
exposure on a client project, practical training and one-on-one mentoring while a team of digitised, automated world. n

EngineerIT | December 2022 | 5