When it comes to massive change, the public, private and nonprofit sectors of the world’s economy combine to act as a sort of “ecologic” system of its own, each sector providing checks and balances against the other two.
This appears to be happening in regards to the looming issues and challenges related to climate change and dwindling traditional energy sources. Consequently, it is expected that the trend of more green jobs will continue in all sectors of the economy. Below, we take a closer look at where green jobs grow in each of these sectors.

Government: Contrary to popular opinion, in many cases the first inklings of major cultural and sociological problems are detected by government, either by regulatory agencies or legislative investigations. The dangers of climate change, for example, were first introduced to the general public by government scientists and politicians. Although private businesses often provide the solutions to societal problems, those solutions are generally not produced until there are profits to be made from them. Until that happens, we rely to a large extent on our government institutions to pave the way toward change.

NGO’s: Once large potential problems are identified by a public agency, the charge for positive change is often led by non-profit organizations whose very reasons for existence are to do just that. In terms of environmental causes, the number of non-profit organizations working today is growing.

Private companies: Private companies are in the business of making money and returning a profit to their investors. In many cases, as with the green economy, it can take years or even decades before private business can conceive of a model in which enough revenue will be generated to justify entering the market. Today, however, the profit margins for green products and services are favorable, and businesses worldwide are clamoring to stake their financial claim in the green explosion.
This green explosion could also mean a green job boom. The diversity of companies now hiring green workers is growing.

Useful links

SAGIC:   A non-profit umbrella association serving the interests of related associations, organisations, government departments private and public companies as well as individuals who have an interest in the Green Industry of South Africa.

Green Building Council South Africa:  To inspire a built environment in which people and planet thrive

Earthlife Africa: Encourages and supports individuals, businesses and industries to reduce pollution, minimise waste and protect our natural resources.

Information source: How To Become

By definition, all green careers could all be labeled as “cutting edge.” The fact is, however, that most green industries have been around for decades. As with all professions, though, there are new trends forming within each of the green industries all the time. Listed here is a small sample of the trends currently fuelling career growth and job opportunities.

Biomimicry: A relatively new scientific discipline, biomimicry concerns the study and imitation of complex biological and other systems found in nature to solve human problems. Although still in its infancy stages, some sustainability experts see potential opportunities in bio-inspired design.

Climate Change: At this point, it’s hard to believe that anyone is unaware of the potential dangers of human-created climate change. Climate change poses more than potential or theoretical dangers. The effects are real and present. The sheer magnitude of the problem virtually guarantees a coming explosion of jobs in every sector to combat its effects.

Fracking: One of the most controversial energy and environmental issues today, hydraulic fracturing (commonly known as fracking) is the process of injecting liquids underground at high pressure to extract oil and gas. While fracking is quickly revolutionizing the energy industry, it is also been accused of causing a large increase in earthquakes and the release of carcinogenic chemicals into water tables.

Population: One might expect that the trend in human population inevitably moves only one way: up. This may be true overall, but while population is increasing in some places (particularly in underdeveloped and developing regions) it is declining, sometimes significantly, in others. The challenge going forward will be to develop efficient systems to shift resources (food, health and energy) from those regions with diminishing populations to those with increasing ones.

Social Media: Changes in the ways the world does business are born in the marketplace of ideas, and that marketplace is increasingly located in the virtual space known as social media. There is a growing emphasis being placed on what is termed “green marketing” to youth via social media channels, where social circles expand and the resulting peer pressures develop that may arguably change human behaviors for the better.

Source: Learn How To Become

Despite growth in the job market for the environment, and the emergence of many new and exciting career options, many of these career pathways are not well known to most South Africans.

There are sometimes also misconceptions about what working for the environment means, as it goes far beyond working as a Park Ranger in a remote nature reserve that is fenced off from people. Traditional conservation careers include the Game Ranger, Taxonomist, Freshwater Ecologist and Marine Biologist, among others.
In recent years there have been many new and interesting green jobs emerging such as the Environmental Manager, Environmental Lawyer, Environmental Engineer, Environmental Economist and Sustainability Manager.

Did you know: Your career choices can contribute to South Africa’s low-carbon future and our green economy!

Where the Green Careers are sprouting

A growing number of people are looking for ways to green their current jobs or find careers in environmentally responsible sectors of the economy. But where to start when looking for your green dream job?

Everybody knows that green careers are sprouting up in the energy, waste, and traditional environmental areas. But in truth, that’s not the half of it. Don’t neglect the following industries and sectors in your job search:

• City planning: Creating a plan for land use that balances needs of the citizens
• Distribution logistics: Moving materials and products in ways that emit less greenhouse gases
• Event planning: Organizing large events in a sustainable way
• Green chemistry: Finding less toxic ways to design products
• Green hospitality: Treating guests to a nurturing stay that’s green and sustainable
• Green information technology (IT): Running computer equipment more efficiently
• Green marketing: Persuading people to take new actions
• Green medicine: Discovering more efficient and less wasteful ways to provide medical care
• Waste-to-energy: Converting mounds of waste into a renewable energy source

Sources include: www.dummies.com

Click here for green career job descriptions

The fastest growing industries in South Africa promise new opportunities for jobs and new businesses. All of the fastest growing industries in South Africa are characterized by high growth, high profitability, and low consolidation.
Are you looking to get a piece of the pie? Then look no further than these fastest growing industries  in South Africa.

Communications/IT Technology

ICT beats agriculture as one of the fastest growing industries in South Africa.

“Currently, there is a lot happening in the telecoms sector, with the expanding national rollout of fibre driven by the growing uptake of bandwidth-intensive applications. This has opened up a host of opportunities, ranging from the implementation of cables to technical support services. As bandwidth speeds increase, we’re seeing the integration of technology, communication and entertainment to form a whole new industry that has really taken off in South Africa and represents a major growth sector” – Christo Botes

The country’s cell phone market is also the 4th fastest growing in the world at a rate of 50% per year. Many investment opportunities lie in developing access control systems/security equipment, systems, and software development in the banking and financial services sector, exporting hardware, silicon processing for fiber optics, integrated circuits, and solar cells.

Agriculture

Farming remains vitally important to the economy. It is estimated that some 8.5 million people are directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture for their employment and income. It is one of the fastest growing industries in South Africa known for its vast lands and profitable farming opportunities. Agriculture, including forestry and fisheries, is vital to the country’s economy.

Government supports programmes to promote commercially oriented small-scale farming as well as support for smallholders on land acquired through land reform.

Agro-processing is one of the key industries within this sector, spanning the processing of freshwater aquaculture and mariculture, exotic and indigenous meats, nuts, herbs and fruit. It also involves the production and export of deciduous fruit and wine; confectionary manufacturing and export; and the processing of natural fibres from cotton, hemp, sisal, kenaf and pineapple.

The South African agri-food sector has a number of competitive advantages, making it both an important trading partner and a viable investment destination. A world-class infrastructure, counter-seasonality to Europe, vast biodiversity and marine resources, and competitive input costs, make the country a major player in the world’s markets.

Mining

South Africa is the world’s biggest producer of gold and platinum, is the 4th largest diamond industry in the world and is also a leading nation in base metals and coal. There is no lack of abundance of mineral resources, resulting in mining as one of the fastest growing industries in South Africa. This untapped market has 40% of the world’s known resources, with an estimated 36,000 tonnes of undeveloped resources.

South Africa’s strengths include an extremely high level of technical and production expertise, and comprehensive research and development activities. The country also boasts world-class primary processing facilities for gold, platinum, carbon steel, stainless steel and aluminium.

South Africa is also a world leader of new technologies, such as a ground-breaking process that converts low-grade superfine iron ore into high-quality iron units.

Lucrative opportunities exist for downstream processing and adding value locally to iron, carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminium, platinum-group metals and gold. A wide range of materials are available for jewellery, including gold, platinum, diamonds, tiger’s eye and a variety of other semi-precious stones.

Manufacturing

South Africa has developed a diversified manufacturing base that has shown its resilience and potential to compete in the global economy. The sector is dominated by industries such as agro-processing, automotive, chemicals, information and communication technology, electronics, metals, textiles, clothing and footwear.

Experts forecast that the manufacturing industry will nearly double its output in 2025, making this one of the most exciting sectors to work in.
Manufacturing has always been a dominant industry and sectors such as agro-processing, automotive, chemicals, technology, and electronics, metals, textiles, clothing and footwear are helping the country to become a new potential global powerhouse.

South Africa has production capacity in radio, television and communication apparatus, petroleum and plastic products, wood products, paper, publishing and printing, food and beverages and motor vehicles, parts and accessories.

Tourism

At the 2018 International Travel Trade Show in Germany held in March 2018, South African Tourism CEO Sisa Ntshona stated that tourism is vitally important to the South African economy and that the sector should be nurtured for sustained and inclusive growth. Importantly  – the growing number of people employed in tourism shows that youngsters should consider the sector when exploring career opportunities

Tourism is regarded as a modern-day engine of growth and is one of the largest industries globally. In addition to being a labour-intensive industry, tourism holds the potential to drive increases in export earnings in a trading environment that is generally less volatile than that of commodity exports.

The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) indicated that travel and tourism in South Africa, directly employs more people than the mining, communication services, automotive manufacturing and chemicals manufacturing sectors.

According to the latest Tourism and Migration Survey, almost 3.5 million tourists passed through South Africa’s ports of entry in August 2017.
There are many opportunities in tourism, as it is one of the fastest growing industries in South Africa. Some investment and business opportunities include infrastructure development; accommodations like hotels, boutique hotels, lodges and resorts; adventure, eco-adventures, sports, conference and cultural tourism; leisure complexes and world-class golf courses; attractions and activity-based tourism; and museums and heritage, cultural, music, arts festivals and events … only to name a few.

South Africa continues to focus on business tourism as an area with significant growth potential. The country is among the top 15 long-haul business events destinations globally, and is the premier business events destination in Africa.

Our advanced infrastructure combined with magnificent scenic beauty, rich biodiversity, sunny climate, cultural diversity and a reputation for delivering value for money experiences, have made it one of the world’s fastest growing tourism destinations.

Textiles & Apparel

Textiles and apparel is our 2nd largest source of tax revenue. Textiles and apparel is also the 3rd largest employer in the manufacturing sector and our 11th largest export.
With support from African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), there are many opportunities within the textile and apparel industry in South Africa, everything from natural and synthetic fibre production to non-woven fabric, spinning, weaving, tufting, knitting, dyeing, and finishing.
The Clothing and Textile Competitiveness Programme (CTCP), is a program aimed at improving South Africa’s global competitiveness. It covers all aspects of business operations, from the very specific to the very generic. More information can be found at the CTCP website.

Wholesale/Retail Trade

The retail market is one of South Africa’s biggest, most affluent and important sectors. The fastest growing segments including textiles and clothes, hardware, general stores, household goods, pharmaceuticals, and food and drinks.
This market is promising medium to long-term growth due to the growing youthful demographic of 55 million people, as well as from its position as a springboard to the rest of sub-Saharan Africa.

Statistics SA produces a monthly survey of the retail trade industry, covering various retail trade enterprises.

Real Estate, Finance & Business Services

South Africa’s financial sector is very sophisticated despite the country’s “emerging market” status. The strong financial sector is built on a foundation of concrete legal and physical infrastructures that promise stable economic growth. South Africa has recently survived a recession and has come out in a pretty solid position.
Financial, real estate and business sector services are the pillar of South Africa’s economic growth and made it on our list as one of the fastest growing industries in South Africa. Many domestic and foreign institutions already provide a full range of services from commercial and retail, to merchant banking, mortgage lending and insurance, as well as investments. When compared to even the best-industrialized countries, South Africa’s banking sector is a tough competitor.

South Africa’s financial services sector boasts dozens of domestic and foreign institutions providing a full range of services including commercial, retail and merchant banking, mortgage lending, insurance and investment.

The South African banking system is well developed and effectively regulated, comprising a Central Bank, a few large, financially strong banks and investment institutions, and a number of smaller banks. Investment and merchant banking is competitive.

The country’s banking sector compares favourably with those of industrialised countries. Many foreign banks and investment institutions have set up operations in South Africa over the past decade. Electronic banking facilities are extensive, with a nationwide network of ATMs and internet banking facilities available.

Information sources:

Bizvibe 

Brand South Africa   

STATS SA

Media Club

Photo credit: Chris Kirchhoff. Media Club SA

The list highlights the high demand occupations at a national level to help universities and post-matric training programmes with the vast developmental objectives of South Afric

High demand occupations

According to the department, occupations were in high demand if:

1. They show that there has been strong employment or wage growth in the past five years.
2. They could possibly show relatively strong employment growth in the future.
3. It has been recognised that there is a shortage in the labour market.
4. Are new and are expected to come out in the future because of innovation, technological progress, the developments of new industries or the introduction of government strategic priorities.

The list of high-demand occupations were further broken down into three levels of demand including highest demand, higher demand and high demand. This pointed out the job shortages that need to urgently be focused on.Below is a table showing some of the occupations that fall under the three levels of demand:

Attractive employers in South Africa

Branding organisation Universum has released research that shows the most attractive employers in the country. According to the research, government and parastatals are some of the top choices as employers for university students and young professionals.

In the sectors of healthcare or health sciences the Department of Health and Discovery were ranked as some of the best employers. In the engineering and technology sector Google and Eskom were some of the best employers.

Source: Business Report 26/06/2018

A National Scarce Skills List of the top hundred scarce skills is regularly drawn up by the Department of Higher Education and Training. Various sources of information are combined, such as government job creation plans, like the National Development Plan, the National Infrastructure Plan, Industrial Policy Action Plan, and the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) Scarce Skills Lists, which indicates shortages in specific career fields.

With the unemployment rate standing at 26.6%, it is well worth remembering which skills will give you a competitive edge and increase your chances of landing a new job or, if you are an employer, which job roles you would have difficulty finding suitable replacements for.

According to a report on skills supply and demand in South Africa; the South African labour force is made up of 15 million employed and 7.5 million unemployed people. Unemployment is also particularly high amongst youth (15 to 34 years) and this is increasing as more young people join the labour force. Additionally, the education level and skill base of the labour force is lower than that of many other productive economies. Of the employed population, 20% have a tertiary qualification, 32% have completed secondary education, and close to half of the workforce do not have a grade 12 certificate.

A critical constraint on the education and training system and the labour market is the inadequate quality of basic education. Success in the school subjects of languages, mathematics and science, forms the basis for participation and success in technical subjects in post-school education and training institutions as well as the workplace. Presently, each year around 140 000 grade 12 students complete the matriculation examination with a bachelor’s pass, and of these only around 50 000 students pass mathematics with a score higher than 50%. The pool of students who can potentially access university and science-based TVET programmes is very small in comparison to the skill demands in the country.

According to the Department of Labour, too few people study qualifications that are required to address the skills shortages in the country.

Source: http://www.trainingforce.co.za

Click here for the 2018 full  list of Careers in Demand in South Africa