Skills shortages affect everyone.

[Dave A]

This article on the shortage of skilled motor mechanics reminded me that we are all going to pay the price for skills shortages.

The skills shortage would affect workshops because of the cost of comebacks, manufacturers because of the cost of warranty and customer dissatisfaction, and consumers because of labour rate premiums and the "downtime" of their vehicles.

It would also affect consumer confidence and limit the introduction of new models into the market because of the inability to support the product.

[AndreMorgenrood]

We are indeed losing skills at one hell of a rate. A friend of mine, an aircraft engineer with very high qualifications, has just left as well. And it's not just to Oz and the UK either, the rest of Africa does'nt seem to have such an issue with skin colour and are grabbing a lot of these people. My mate's now based in Tanzania and they treat him like royalty from what I hear.

[Dave A]

DA slams govt's use of affirmative action

The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Thursday accused the government of stubbornly refusing to admit that the affirmative action policy is at the core of South Africa's skills crisis, and proposed ways to redress the crisis.

During a media briefing at Parliament, DA spokesperson Mark Lowe emphasised, however, that the DA is not opposed to affirmative action to address the imbalances of the past, but rather has a problem with the way it is being implemented.

Lowe said it is recognised that the government is simply unable to deliver properly because it lacks the capacity to turn policy into reality.

There has, in turn, been an effort to capacitate and strengthen existing educational institutions and to create new bodies, such as the sector education and training authorities (Setas), in an attempt to address the situation.

At face value, the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (Jipsa), launched in March 2005, also represents an attempt to address the situation.

However, on closer inspection, many of the Jipsa initiatives already exist and have simply been lumped together under a common banner.

"Nevertheless, there is a stubborn refusal by the country's national leadership to admit that, at the very core of South Africa's skills crisis, is the policy of affirmative action.
full story from M&G here