In an ever changing world, having a skill set that makes one employable is critical. With a large portion of South Africa’s youth from lower income households, basic skills that will make a person employable, not only here but worldwide, is vital. While the concept of Employability as a commodity is closely linked to government policy in which graduates represent a valuable resource in the increasingly knowledge based economy, it is also about the ability of graduates to be able to respond to the changing needs of a rapidly developing labour market is seen as vital for economic growth. This is where ICT is a perfect fit. The South African scarce skills list is divided into 12 broad categories. Each category is related to specific sectors of the South African economy. The ICT industry of South Africa is one of these sectors. Scarce and Critical skills are defined as “an absolute or relative demand: current or in future; for skilled; qualified and experienced people to fill particular roles / professions, occupations
or specialisations in the labour market. Critical skills refers to particular capabilities needed within an occupation, for example, general management skills, communication and customer handling skills, teamwork skills, and communication technology skills. What this means is that South Africa’s local workforce lacks the qualifications or skills to meet the demands of our ICT industry. Currently, the South African government have to recruit from abroad to fill the skills gaps. There is also a distinction between absolute and relative scarcity of skills. Absolute scarcity refers to suitably skilled people who are not available in the labour market and may include new or emerging occupation, lack of suitably qualified people or insufficient numbers of people enrolled in programmes to meet the new demands. Relative scarcity refers to suitably skilled people available in the labour market but
