CRITICAL AND SCARCE SKILLS;
THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD OF CAREER PATHING
By Zandile Skosana, Marketing and Communications Manager
The Finance and Accounting Services Sector Education and Training Authority’s (Fasset)
Choosing a career is a commitment to a world of work. While passion, interests and skills should certainly play a role in the road followed, pursuing a career path that inevitably leads to unemployment may not offer you the future you desire. How can this be avoided? The National Qualifications Framework (NQF) suggests linking studies to opportunities.
To do this, learners should research scarce and critical skills. The Finance and Accounting Services Sector Education and Training Authority’s (Fasset) defines scarce skills as; “a shortage of people with the required attributes to fill positions available in the labour market. The attributes that employers are seeking when they try to fill positions in their organisations are specifically important. These may be qualifications, specific skills and experience, a specific race or gender or a combination of these attributes.”
Interestingly, the Fasset Sector Skills Plan 2016 - 2021 indicates that finance and accounting services skills shortages are rampant, and the demand for skilled labour in the industry is high. From clerical to technician, administrative,professional and managerial positions, the sector provides large-scale employment opportunities for skilled candidates.
Considering future trends when deciding what to study (and which career to pursue)could mean the difference between walking down the yellow brick road to Oz, or joining an unemployment line. This is a decision that requires much thought, and one that should be made well before matric. Although the particular job designation need not be decided on, choosing an industry is important, to ensure that the right subjects are selected,enabling future higher education.
The finance and accounting sector is particularly important to the economy of South Africa and is populated by those who love working with the figures that make the economy tick. In the sector are those with financial management, accounting and auditing skills, each discipline an essential element to the efficient running of an organisation, whether it’s a large corporation or a small venture.
There is a shortage of such skills at all levels in the sector, which translates into many exciting and challenging opportunities for young talent. There are different pathways into finance and accounting careers, often linked to membership of professional bodies and leading to different career opportunities.
It is possible for an auditor to become a management accountant or financial manager in an organisation outside the finance and accounting sector. Similarly, it is possible for an accountant to become an internal auditor. However, one needs to be aware of the registration and other legal requirements for certain occupations.
In finance and accounting, transformation is also a keen goal. This combination of the demand for skills and the dedication to transformation provides a plethora of opportunities for learners considering a career in the sector. As mentioned, scarce skills in the sector are mainly in the professional, technician and associated professional occupations.While these occupational categories are experiencing above average growth, the shortages are often related to very special skills sought by employers. The lack of qualified African black people, especially in the higher-level occupations and professional designations, is considered a serious problem.
Scarce skills are normally expressed in terms of the occupations for which there are not enough candidates available. In every sector, the principles of supply and demand are active and drive the direction that the sector moves in. Where there is a demand, supply will be welcomed. Choosing a career path that feeds supply to a demand is the smart choice, and the best way to make the future count.
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