Newsletter Subscribe
Enter your email address below and subscribe to our newsletter
Gender equity lags in South African telecoms sector- Survey
The telecom industry in South Africa lags the all-industry average on gender equity, particularly when it comes to skilled technical levels, with women making up some 32.7% versus other industries at 39.3%, according to Telecommunications Sector Survey released today.
The 2009 Telecommunications Sector Survey was carried out by executive search firm, Landelahni Business Leaders.
“There are significantly fewer women in technical and engineering positions across all disciplines and industries, not just telecommunications, largely because of the small number of technically qualified staff available,” says Sandra Burmeister, CEO of Landelahni.
The survey noted that private sector telecoms is doing substantially better than government telecoms when it comes to gender equity at all levels, and particularly at skilled technical level, with women making up 42.5% of staff, against the public sector’s 24%.
“Gender equity rather than employment equity is clearly the area that requires focus,” says Burmeister. “In addition, more work is required at the professional and skilled levels to create a pipeline for sustainable business growth in the future.”
On black employment equity, the industry is way ahead when it comes to senior executive appointments. “The telecoms industry is far ahead of the all-industry average in regard to black employment equity at senior executive levels,”the report said.
“There is an inadequate trickle of suitably qualified candidates entering the sector,” says Burmeister. “As a result, industry players rely to a high degree on in-company training so as to develop the required skills.
In South Africa, the telecoms sector is estimated to be worth R99-billion and is growing at 14% a year. It contributes some 7% to gross domestic product – the same as the mining industry.
