South Africa stands at a crossroads as its employer’s grapple with a significant skills gap in the IT sector.
This is according to recent findings from the 2024 Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa (IITPSA) ICT Skills Survey, which revealed that a staggering 65% of local employers believe that these gaps are detrimentally affecting their businesses. Yet, paradoxically, the hiring activity within the tech sector saw a year-on-year decline of 19%, marking a worrisome trend amidst a well-documented demand for IT professionals.
However, against this backdrop, redAcademy has emerged as a beacon of innovation, revolutionising how South Africans are educated and employed in the tech industry.
Jessica Hawkey, Managing Director of redAcademy, emphasises the need to prioritise skills and organisational fit over formal degrees. In a world where the World Economic Forum posits that skills will ultimately define the future of employment, redAcademy is set on breaking traditional educational norms and providing a model that responds directly to employer needs.
The academy’s unique one-year programme, accredited by both QCTO and MICT SETA, is designed to seamlessly integrate theoretical knowledge with practical experience.
In the first half of the year, candidates delve into theoretical concepts, while the latter six months put them into real-world projects with corporate partners. This dual approach ensures that participants are not just learners but effective contributors by the time they finish their training.
“Our fully customised programme, based on ensuring candidates get real work experience, not only QCTO accredited training, is something a lot of stakeholders do not have in the market,” Hawkey explained.
“We are seeing, in the long term, that developers without degrees are earning just as much as those with degrees.”
redAcademy has since adopted a managed service model that enhances accountability and delivery. Clients partner with the academy, which subsequently guarantees that candidates produce tangible results.
“We contract for the delivery of work we produce for our clients’ businesses. We don’t get paid if our candidates do not deliver real-world results and real-world solutions to our corporate clients in the second six months of the one-year programme,” Hawkey said.
This rigorous accountability not only helps train candidates but also equips businesses to focus on their operational priorities without the burden of managing recruits’ journeys into productivity.
The pressing pace of technological integration is evident. Between 2023 and 2024, the percentage of global organisations harnessing AI across business functions spiked from 55% to 72%. As dynamic market demands shift, redAcademy has consistently adapted its training offerings to match.
Amid this pressing skills’ crisis, experts like the National Planning Commission recommend reforms in educational quality and alignment with industry objectives.
For Hawkey and redAcademy, the goal is clear: swap prolonged academic experiences for hands-on learning that pushes students right into the heart of the technology sector, fostering their ability to deliver viable solutions to real clients.
