There is a concerning paradox across the African continent. On the one hand, there is an increasing pool of qualified young people whose skills are urgently needed in maintenance and reliability. On the other, there are fewer industrial environments in which they can hone the practical competence required to become effective maintenance engineers, technicians and artisans.
Dikeledi (not her real name), a 25-year-old woman and first-class engineering graduate in mechanical engineering from one of South Africa’s top universities, should be on duty at a power or motor assembly plant somewhere in the country. Ideally, she should be the perfect advertisement for companies that are big on, or proclaim to be big on, diversity and inclusion, specifically women empowerment.
But in reality, Dikeledi is self-employed as an Uber driver (some would say underemployed). She confesses that she is in a field she never remotely imagined she would be in, but then gets philosophical, adding, “Such is life.”
“I hear that there is a scarcity of engineers, and wonder on which planet that is. Yet here I am with a first-class degree from a top university,” she says, shrugging her shoulders in a manner that shows resignation to fate. “I would jump at an apprenticeship programme in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, there are fewer of those opportunities.”
Dikeledi wakes up early and knocks off late. Such is her routine. She wishes she had a nine-to-five job, though, and has not lost hope.
This situation is playing out in other African countries.
One Kenyan chartered accountant remarked: “So, you think it is worse in South Africa, one of Africa’s major industrial economies? Go to my home country.”
The root cause of the growing unemployment among graduates with specialised skills such as engineering is the widening gap between qualifications and practical experience in sub-Saharan Africa.
Slow economic growth, fewer opportunities
What is most worrying is that with slow industrial GDP growth, especially in sectors such as manufacturing, mining, petrochemicals and construction, the situation could get worse. If there is no turnaround, there will be fewer opportunities for newly qualified artisans and engineers to gain the practical experience required to develop the competence needed to deliver projects.
In asset-intensive industries, practical skills developed on plant floors, in workshops and on mine sites matter. Learning how to keep machinery running from textbooks alone is not enough for maintenance and reliability professionals. They have to develop their judgement through experience -which includes exposure to equipment, operating conditions, different types of failures, inspections and repairs – under the mentorship of senior colleagues.
Sadly, when industries do not scale because of economic circumstances beyond their control, they do not need more workers.And when fewer workers are recruited, it follows that there are fewer opportunities for young graduates to work alongside experienced engineers, artisans, technicians and maintenance specialists.
Experience over youth
Where there is no economic growth, hiring more workers – not least young graduates – becomes a luxury for companies. As a result, companies make do with what experienced employees have, at best, or are compelled to retrench, at worst.
Typically, this has been happening in South Africa’s motor assembly plants, where competition from cheaper imports made in China has affected domestic car sales, resulting in some manufacturers cutting the number of shifts to stay afloat.
A recent case is the possible closure of the Dana Spicer Axle plant in Kariega, unless a drastic intervention changes the situation. The plant supplies components to Isuzu, Ford and Toyota. In May 2026, the company began a Section 189 retrenchment process.
Usually, when companies downsize, even skilled employees are not immune from potential job losses.
The void left by lost experience
The situation becomes worse due to the loss of experience accumulated through years of production. When factories close and skilled employees leave the sector, rebuilding that knowledge takes time.
South African recruitment company Armstrong Appointments highlights this point in an article published on its website, Why is there an engineering skills shortage in South Africa? And what does it mean for future engineers?: “When senior engineers retire or leave the sector, institutional knowledge disappears, leaving younger professionals without the guidance needed to progress quickly.”
There is something to be learned perspectives from articles on skills development and training for maintenance and reliability personnel shared by experts from WearCheck and SKF. Young engineers may understand the theory behind vibration, lubrication, alignment, condition monitoring or failure analysis. But practical competence develops when that knowledge is applied to real equipment, under real operating conditions, alongside people who have seen similar problems before, rather than in a controlled classroom environment.
A paradox
This creates a paradox.
On the one hand, there is an increasing pool of technically qualified young people whose skills are needed across maintenance and reliability. On the other, there are fewer industrial environments in which they can hone the practical competence required to become effective maintenance engineers, technicians and artisans.
What is missing from the ongoing conversation on skills development and training is the competency gap that develops in real-world industrial settings.
The gist of the matter is this: Unless there is growth in industry to open up opportunities for on-the-job training for young people, the skills shortage will remain chronic. Classrooms can provide the theoretical foundation, but they cannot fill the competence void created by a lack of practical experience.
