An assessment of the current levels of engineering skills’ shortages in the South African construction industry

M.Tech. (Construction Management)Abstract: The construction industry is regarded as one of the key sectors in the development and economic growth of South Africa. However, the industry faces the challenges of engineering skills’ shortages. The objectives of this research was to explore the engineering skills’ shortages in the South African construction industry with a view to understand what causes these shortages. Understanding the effects could enhance the success of minimising the challenges of skills shortages that the construction industry is facing. Data used was derived from related literature and a collection of questionnaire distributed to professionals in the construction industry. Findings revealed that there is a shortage of engineering skills. The level of supply of these shortages is attributed to the lack of retirement of experienced engineers;, the low pass rate in science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects, poor career guidance in subject choices;, lack of experiential training opportunities;, lack of mentors for new graduates;, lack of government support for tertiary education;, immigration of experienced engineers, low remuneration of engineering professionals, and the growth of new industries in different regions with different skills’ bases were the major causes of the engineering skill’s shortages in the construction industry. Additionally, based on the findings difficulties in recruiting;, poor decision making due to not having the right skilled people;, lack of quality relevance of training received were amongst the major effects of the engineering skills’ shortages to the construction industry. A key point is that the industry would benefit from the use of retired experienced engineers for mentoring programs, higher remuneration scales for engineering professionals, and employers collaborating with educators to identify the skills’ needed to map career pathways amongst others to minimise the engineering skills’ shortages in the construction industry. It is recommended that the construction industry, as well as secondary and higher education institutions, should be made aware of the factors that cause engineering skills’ shortages and ways to minimise these shortages in the construction industr