VerifiedDeciding What to Study? Government Publishes a List of the Jobs Employers Need.
Choosing a qualification is mostly guesswork dressed up as advice.
One document cuts through some of it: the National List of Occupations in High Demand, gazetted by the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation.
This guide shows you what is on the list, how to read a row, what the asterisks mean, and where the list will mislead you if you take it at face value.
What Is the Occupations in High Demand List?
A gazetted table of the occupations South African employers are most likely to be recruiting for, with the qualification level each one usually starts at.
The current edition is the 2024 list, published as Notice 2414 of 2024 in Government Gazette No. 50510 on 16 April 2024 and signed by Minister Blade Nzimande the day before.
It is the fifth list the Department of Higher Education and Training has produced, after editions in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020.
How Many Occupations Are on the List?
350.
That number is what makes the list useful. The Department screened the 1 410 occupations in the Organising Framework for Occupations, excluded elementary occupations, and kept only those that passed its demand threshold.
Roughly one occupation in four made the cut. It is a filter, not a catalogue.
What Makes an Occupation High Demand?
The gazette defines them as occupations showing strong employment, wage and vacancy growth, and for which employers are likely to recruit in the medium term.
Four signals are weighed together:
- High employment growth in the occupation
- High wage growth, which is what employers do when they cannot find people
- High vacancy growth, measured through job advertisements
- A high likelihood of recruitment over the medium term
Wage growth is the signal most people ignore, and it is the honest one. Salaries climb where employers are competing for too few candidates.
How Do You Read a Row on the List?
Each row gives three things: the occupation’s name, its six-digit OFO code, and the minimum qualification usually associated with it.
The qualification levels range widely:
| Occupation | Minimum qualification |
|---|---|
| Senior Government Manager | National Certificate (NQF 4) |
| Early Childhood Development Practitioner | Higher Certificate (NQF 5) |
| Mining Technician | Higher Certificate (NQF 5) |
| Facilities Manager | Diploma or Advanced Certificate (NQF 6) |
| Environmental Manager | Bachelor’s Degree or Advanced Diploma (NQF 7) |
| Geologist | Bachelor’s Degree or Advanced Diploma (NQF 7) |
| Senior Police Officer | Bachelor’s Degree (NQF 8) |
| Faculty Head | Doctoral Degree (NQF 10) |
Read the gazette’s own warning before you plan around that column.
It states that the qualifications shown are the minimum commonly associated with an occupation, that they are simply sign-posts for skills planning purposes, and that they do not prescribe requirements for employment purposes.
So an NQF 5 entry is not a promise that a higher certificate will get you hired. It tells you where the occupation’s entry point typically sits.
What Does the Asterisk Mean?
Scan the table and you will see asterisks beside some names. There are 73 of them.
An asterisk flags a comparatively large number of unemployed people registered for that occupation on the Department of Employment and Labour’s ESSA database.
The gazette concedes the obvious tension. A large number of registered unemployed people could imply an over-supply of labour, which may mean the occupation should not be on the list at all.
It keeps those entries because there are other explanations, such as candidates holding the qualification but not the experience employers want, or being in the wrong province.
Treat an asterisk as a warning light. Ask harder questions before committing three or four years to that path. Skills Development Practitioner is one of the asterisked entries.
Does Being on the List Mean You Will Get a Job?
No.
The gazette sets out four purposes, and only one of them is about you:
- A signpost for enrolment planning at universities and TVET colleges
- Signalling where new qualifications are needed
- Guiding how public money is allocated
- Informing career guidance for learners and work-seekers
Employers, professional bodies, trade unions and SETAs are also invited to use it in their own programmes.
That first purpose is why the list matters to anyone chasing funding. When a SETA decides which fields to fund, this document is one of the inputs.
Fields that appear across editions attract steady bursary money, which shows in the volume of engineering bursaries and nursing bursaries each year, and in sustained funding for information technology and trades such as welding.
Is There a Newer List Than the 2024 One?
Not yet.
The Department reviews the list every two years, subject to resources, and the 2024 gazette said it planned to publish the next one in 2026. No 2026 edition has appeared.
So the April 2024 list remains the gazetted national position, and you should read it knowing the labour-market data behind it is now some years old.
Two provinces publish their own versions, worth reading if you intend to work where you live: a Western Cape list dated January 2024 and a Mpumalanga list dated April 2024.
Enquiries go to the Director-General, Private Bag X174, Pretoria 0001, for the attention of Ms M Khuluvhe, or by email to Khuluvhe.m@dhet.gov.za. Download the 2024 gazette or the longer technical research report.
Occupations in High Demand FAQs
Does the list guarantee employment?
No.
The gazette calls it a signpost for skills planning and says the qualifications shown do not prescribe requirements for employment.
What does an asterisk next to an occupation mean?
Many unemployed people are registered for it on the ESSA database. The Department admits this could point to an over-supply of labour.
How many occupations are listed?
350, selected from the 1 410 occupations in the Organising Framework for Occupations after elementary occupations were excluded.
What is the OFO code for?
It is the official six-digit identifier for an occupation. SETAs and employers use it to match qualifications, learnerships and funding to a specific occupation rather than a loose job title.
Can I use it to pick a TVET course?
Yes, and that is one of its stated purposes. Note that many listed occupations sit at NQF 4 to 6, which is college rather than university territory.
How to Use the List Properly
- Find the occupations that interest you and note the NQF level
- Check whether the entry carries an asterisk
- Compare it against the provincial list for where you want to work
- Then check real job advertisements for that occupation today
A list gazetted in 2024 tells you where demand sat. Current advertisements tell you where it sits now.