EMPLOYER branding agency Universum Global has released its 2022 report on the South African talent landscape, the Universum Talent Survey. The survey collects data on global employment trends, preferred employers and evolving talent needs in the current economic climate.
The results reveal several emerging trends in the global talent landscape.
“One of the biggest trends to look out for is the overarching evolution of the need for employees to belong,” says Pabi Mogosetsi, Country Manager for Universum Global South Africa.
“Transformation is one of the HR areas that is widely viewed as urgent to address. With the revised equity and transformation legislation coming into effect this year, the issue is under the spotlight.
“Our data has shown that diversity, equity, inclusion, culture and values have become quite important to our talent population. These became more widely recognised over the past two years during the pandemic and have become important differentiators to talent, as have learning and growth opportunities.
According to the Manpower Group, economic activity is reverting to pre-pandemic levels and more employers are expecting to hire talent in Q3 and Q4. But the brain drain and skills shortage dilemmas remain a challenge. Manpower’s data also indicates that it is becoming exceedingly difficult to fill open positions with suitable talent.
How talent needs are evolving in 2022
Ethical standards and professional training and development are still highly regarded by both students and professionals. While secure employment is important for professionals, leadership opportunities have become important to students.
“This demonstrates that talent is more focused on job characteristics, so employer brands need to ensure that their EVP (Employer Value Proposition) and employer brand image is correctly communicated in job descriptions. This helps them ensure that candidates’ experiences align with what is promised.
“Success, presence and culture are the three key words that stand out in the 2021 Universum Talent Survey, which includes data gathered from South African students on the most considered and attractive employers.
“We have learned that the most used communication channels through which students learn about employers are social media, news media and online job boards, closely followed by employers’ career websites.
“As we start getting into the post-pandemic economic stage, we have also observed that remote work is favoured for both target groups.”
Business/Commerce
In business and commerce, students reported increased interest in employers that support future education, linking it to secure employment. The most interesting talent preference is that innovation has lost ground in terms of interest to students.
Challenging work has also lost ground in the fight for stability. Professionals have placed a lot of importance on secure employment and leadership opportunities, with decreased focus on challenging work and responsibilities.
Key findings
- The banking and Fintech sectors proved to have strong areas of growth within the talent population.
- There has not been much movement in the highly-competitive auditing and accounting, banking and e-commerce organisations for business talent. In the fintech sectors, interest has grown.
- Investec and Deloitte hold pole position within the top five finance and accounting organisations, and KPMG has risen to be a top contender for talent in the aspirational accountancy-focused target group.
- The South African Reserve Bank, First National Bank (FNB) and Standard Bank took the top spots in the fight for the aspirational banking-focused target group.
- Investec, the South African Reserve Bank and South African Revenue Services (SARS) take the lead in attractiveness for the aspirational finance-focused target group of students.
- Nike, Google and Coca-Cola came out tops in the marketing-focused target group of students.
Engineering/Technology
Student trends show us that their attributes are reverting to pre-COVID stages with the various projects that clients have decided to follow. Tech talent or ‘STEM’ talent still remains important and keeps rising to the pre-COVID stages.
We have noticed that this industry and the tech, finance, banking and auditing Industries have grown in interest and have noted various organisations following suit in making sure they get a ‘piece of the pie’ by opening various technology hubs in South Africa, setting it up to become a focus point for African tech.
While these industries are enjoying substantial growth in interest, the FMCG industry is bleeding talent and growth is limited. With the top 10 companies in the FMCG industries losing rank to banking, and in particular, the international banks.
The preferred industries within this target group have evolved to include a fast growth in the energy, IT, computer and network security, computer software and technology and IT engineering consulting.
We have noticed tremendous growth in interest towards this target group with many companies setting up hubs in South Africa to contribute to building on their skillset.
- In the top spots for attractiveness within the engineering category are Sasol, Transnet and Eskom, which has not changed since last year.
- The construction group is led by WBHO & Transnet in attractiveness.
- Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Huawei, Samsung and Tesla take the lead in attractiveness with the IT focused target group.
To view the rankings in more detail, click here.
