One skill South African companies are looking for

This was revealed in Pnet’s August 2025 job market trends report, which provides insights into recruitment and employment trends in the South African market.

Pnet revealed that hiring activity is slowing in South Africa. In July 2025, hiring activity declined by 5% year-on-year and 3% month-on-month. Vacancy advertising also dropped by 7% compared to July 2024.

However, despite this slowdown, one skillset saw a dramatic surge in demand. According to Pnet, advertised jobs requiring AI expertise increased by 352% since 2019. Over the past three years, demand for AI skills has grown by 79%.

“This shows a strong upward trend, though not as steep as the six-year trajectory,” Pnet noted in its report.

Notably, the first half of 2025 recorded a 77% increase in AI-related vacancies compared to the same period in 2024, showing just how quickly the market is accelerating.

This trend is expected to continue. In its 2025 Future of Jobs Report, the World Economic Forum estimated that AI and information-processing technology will create 11 million jobs while simultaneously displacing 9 million others.

Major corporations have also indicated that they plan to incorporate AI more extensively. A recent KPMG report, which surveyed over 228 global banking leaders, found that embedding AI into new ways of working was the top priority for banks.

Just over half (52%) said they have already applied AI and automation in their fraud detection and document processing value chains, and 50% said they have adopted automation in their customer interactions.

Unsurprisingly, most of this demand for AI skills in South Africa came from Gauteng, which was responsible for 58% of vacancies. The Western Cape followed with 24% of vacancies.

The third-highest vacancy rate came from Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN), although it only contributed a marginal 4%.

“There is also a small but notable share of opportunities beyond South Africa’s borders – with 3% of AI vacancies advertised for international roles and 2% listed as remote (work-from-home) positions,” Pnet said.

Simple skills have big rewards

Pnet explained that two distinct categories of AI-related vacancies are driving growth in the market. The first, “AI jobs”, encompasses specialist roles directly involved in designing, building, and training AI applications. A typical example is a machine learning engineer.

The second is “AI-skilled jobs”, which are traditional roles that increasingly require proficiency with AI tools. For example, this could be a content creator with experience using platforms like ChatGPT.

“Demand for both categories has expanded sharply over the past six years. While specialist AI jobs led the early surge, demand for AI-skilled workers has quickly accelerated – and in the first half of 2025, it began to overtake demand for dedicated AI roles,” Pnet said.

Over the past six years, demand for AI-specific job roles has increased by +252%. Growth has continued in the last three years, though at a slower pace of +31%.

The most in-demand roles include AI software developers, data scientists, data engineers, and machine learning engineers.

“By contrast, demand for AI-skilled roles has risen even more sharply – up 488% over six years and 151% in the last three years,” Pnet said.

The top AI skills employers are looking for include a general know-how of AI tools like Zapier and ChatGPT.

“The rise in these roles and skills reflects a broader trend,” Pnet explained. “AI is no longer confined to specialist positions.”

“From software developers to content creators, the demand for AI expertise is reshaping career paths across industries. Both employers and job seekers who adapt quickly will be best positioned to benefit from this shift.”

Issued on Daily Investor by Kirsten Minnaar | https://dailyinvestor.com/south-africa/102056/one-skill-south-african-companies-are-looking-for/