Ezulwini- Eswatini’s technology industry may be sitting on a pool of graduates it cannot readily employ, while employers themselves are reporting as many as 80 unfilled ICT positions, a finding that has exposed a striking fault line between the country’s training system and the needs of business.
The contradiction emerged on Thursday when Skills for Youth (S4Y) technical expert Tim Andrews presented findings from an ICT skills assessment at the organization’s ICT Skills Validation Workshop.
Andrews told stakeholders that an analysis of LinkedIn data showed that only one in five recent computing graduates appeared to make the transition into professional roles on the platform.
At face value, the finding could suggest a lack of professional opportunities for graduates. But interviews with companies produced a very different picture.
According to Andrews, 19 companies consulted during the assessment reported a combined need for between 30 and 80 ICT-based positions, depending on their workload, contracts and business requirements.
The disparity is what makes the findings particularly significant: while relatively few ICT vacancies are visible through LinkedIn, companies participating in the assessment say they have positions they cannot fill.
Andrews said the LinkedIn analysis identified only 11 ICT-related job postings, compared with the much larger demand reported directly by the 19 companies.
“Just those 19 companies have told us that they are missing 30 to 80 ICT-based positions in their organizations,” he said.
The figures suggest that the problem facing young computing graduates may be more complicated than a simple shortage of jobs.
They point instead to a possible disconnect between the qualifications being produced and the competencies businesses are looking for, particularly where employers require people who can immediately perform specific technical functions.
Andrews cautioned, however, that LinkedIn cannot be treated as a complete representation of Eswatini’s labour market. He said only about 95,000 people out of a population of roughly 1.5 million were on the platform, meaning a significant portion of the country’s employment activity would not appear in the data.
Even so, he argued that the sample was large enough to reveal useful patterns.
“The most granular information came from the companies sitting in this room,” Andrews said, referring to the businesses that participated in the assessment.
It is this employer-level evidence that gives the findings their sharpest edge. The companies are not merely saying that they want more graduates; they are reporting specific vacancies for which they are struggling to find suitable ICT personnel.
The challenge now is to establish what is preventing graduates from moving into those positions.
For S4Y, the findings place greater emphasis on the quality and relevance of ICT training, rather than simply increasing the number of young people who obtain qualifications.
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