Future of work in South Africa: AI's role in the country

According to Statistics South Africa, the country’s overall unemployment rate was 32.1% in the third quarter of last year. Nevertheless, the situation was significantly worse for young people aged 15 to 34, with an official unemployment rate of 45.5%. 

As AI automates tasks across various industries, experts warn that South Africa’s sluggish economy and skills gap may make job seekers even more vulnerable.

Matthew Parks, parliamentary coordinator at the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), said AI’s integration into the workforce is inevitable but raises concerns. 

“We need to have business and labour working together along with academic and training institutions as these sectors are at risk. We need to target niche sectors in South Africa that can be exploited.

“Often, we find in skill training regimes people aren’t speaking to each other. The government does not talk to businesses as to what skills they need, businesses don’t tap into the local trading funds available for skills development.

“Our fear is that white-collar and blue-collar jobs will be lost. You can see people with low skills being retrenched. We could see economic sectors’ value chains decimated, and you might not see new jobs and sectors growing fast enough or growing at a pace that can absorb those workers affected”, Parks said,” he said.

Senior Economist and Research ICT Africa, Roland Banya said upskilling and reskilling is vital to future career development now more than ever before.

“The internet is used for everything. There isn’t a sector that doesn't use the internet. AI needs to be considered in that way.  Of course, for Africa, there are competitive advantages, especially with a high youth population. If we look at it that way, several sectors are already benefiting from AI, including agriculture, the financial sector, healthcare and education,” he said.

“The youth may struggle to find jobs and if they don’t have the required skills, they will be vulnerable to AI automation we are seeing,” Banya added.

A study published by the McKinsey Global Institute revealed up to 39% of jobs could be automated in South Africa by 2030. The same study also found AI could contribute to the creation of between 20 – 50 million jobs globally.

Senior Associate at Power and Associates, S’lindile Khumalo, says the way AI is redefining the workplace is not unique to South Africa.

“We need to bolster our AI and digital literacy to understand what tools are relevant to the South African market and what they mean in different sectors”.

“We have a wealth gap in South Africa and a digital divide, so when we speak of the need to foster AI skills for entering the job market, for adaptation, or for whatever it may be, there are some people that may be left behind. It’s important for everyone to understand AI and what these tools mean,” she said.

Now, what does the future of work look like in a country like South Africa?

iFundi chief executive officer, Stefan Lauber, believes the education system in its current form is dated and not set up for future-focused careers.

“Our school system doesn’t really prepare people well for future jobs, our education system is outdated globally.”

The career development agency believes it is time for change and a fresh outlook and approach to future learning and teaching.

“We need to redesign our curriculum to make it relevant for today. Secondly, we need to capacitate our teachers to teach new subjects. Thirdly, we need to give wide access to all schools, especially those in rural areas. Fourthly, we need budgets and fifthly, collaboration,” Lauber said.

For an in-depth look at the possible impact of AI on the South African job market.

The 2025 World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Report revealed the fastest-growing and fastest-declining jobs worldwide in the next five years.

READ REPORT: The Future of Jobs Report 2025

According to the report, jobs that are rapidly decreasing include legal secretaries; accounting, bookkeeping, and payroll clerks; data entry clerks; bank tellers, and graphic designers. Software developers, AI and machine specialists, data analysts, and scientists are, however, just some of the careers on the rise.