Riaz Moola, CEO and founder, HyperionDev SA.
SA’s skills crisis is evolving: a hiring shortage is not the biggest problem for employers, it’s that too many new hires take too long to become productive.
This is according to research presented by online education provider HyperionDev.
Reflecting on the findings of the company’s Graduate Impact Report 2024, Riaz Moola, CEO and founder of HyperionDev, said rather than a pure shortage of candidates, employers are now grappling with how quickly new hires can deliver value and how long they stay in their roles.
“Despite unemployment rates among the highest in the world, South African businesses report that junior tech hires often require months of retraining before they can contribute meaningfully to teams, a hidden cost that increases productivity shortfalls in high-demand sectors.”
Moola explained that ‘retraining’ in this context means teaching a brilliant theoretical graduate how to actually build software using the modern tools of the trade (like Git, CI/CD and Agile workflows) in a team environment.
“It’s not that these hires are not trained well, but rather that they are trained for academia, not industry,” he said.
The company added that there is a growing demand for job-ready, practically fluent talent – especially for in-demand tech roles like entry-level developers, data analysts and cyber security associates – particularly within logistics, finance and retail.
HyperionDev defines job-ready, practically fluent talent as candidates who can apply their theoretic knowledge immediately.
“To us, being job-ready means you have a portfolio of real software you have built, deployed and fixed. It is the difference between knowing how a car engine works in theory and actually being able to pick up a spanner and fix it,” said Moola.
He added, though, that even when these roles are filled, companies lose an estimated R50 000 to R100 000 per month when employees cannot begin contributing quickly due to inadequate practical preparation.
This mismatch, high national unemployment alongside strong employer demand, underscores what the report describes as a structural design flaw in SA’s education-to-employment pipeline.
“The problem isn’t a lack of ambition or ability,” commented Moola. “It’s that traditional models aren’t optimised for employability. They focus on curriculum volume, not verified outcomes. When you redesign learning around what employers measure – productivity, retention and adaptability – the results improve dramatically.”
According to the report, funding and partnerships should favour training models that prove job outcomes, not merely enrol large numbers.
“The next phase of South Africa’s digital growth depends on a strong outcomes spine,” Moola added. “Every learning opportunity must be designed to lead directly to a job opportunity, or we risk training without transformation.”
The research underlines the urgent need for a more transparent, employer-aligned system where training providers measure and publish data on employment rates, retention and time-to-productivity, enabling businesses, institutions and policymakers to calibrate strategies accordingly.
HyperionDev said SA can shift the narrative from unemployment to inclusion by adopting a workforce model anchored in job readiness and sustained retention, not just certification.
“The real metric that matters now is time,” Moola said. “Time to hire, time to become productive, time to stay. If we shorten these timelines through proven, mentor-supported learning, South Africa’s digital economy can expand faster, fairer and more sustainably.”
