From IT Web Africa

The world of work is changing rapidly – but South African companies just aren’t responding fast enough to the rapidly shifting trends, which means they’re losing out on major opportunities to grow and capitalise on rebounding markets and economies around the world.

That’s the bottom line of the recently-released Oxford Economics Workforce 2020 study, which found that at a time of tremendous change in the workplace, many businesses are struggling with managing talent, cultivating leadership, encouraging learning, and understanding their employees.

By 2020, we’ll see multiple generations working together, with different skills, experiences, habits, and motivations. Growing numbers of these workers will be freelancers and contractors, rather than full-time employees. Fully 80% of South African companies say they are increasingly using consultants – but only 27% believe that this requires changing HR policy.

The study, which was commissioned by SAP, highlights the top trends affecting South Africa’s workforce. Topping the list is the number of so-called millennials entering the workforce (59%), followed by the globalisation of the labour supply (54%) and changing work models (43%). Surprisingly, one of the top challenges is finding enough employees with base-level skills (40%).

Read more at IT Web Africa