The gap in skills across South Africa’s labour market can be closed by recruiting from the country’s retired pool and establishing mentorships and skills transfer programmes, says Quyn director Pierre Bekker.

The South African labour market, challenged by a high unemployment rate and a skills shortage, has an extensive potential youth labour force; however, a lack of skills and experience, compounded by dwindling work opportunities, leaves limited options for them.

There is currently a shortage of experienced engineers, site managers, project managers and quantity assessors across the construction, engineering and mining sectors.

“What is needed the most is skills in problem-solving positions,” he says, noting that creative solutions are required to develop the skills needed, and leveraging the skills held by retirees is one such solution that South Africa’s economy needs.

In the mining, engineering and construction sectors, in particular, which tend to hire fewer unskilled employees, experience is a key requirement that companies look for when placing a candidate in a high-level role.

By hiring retired individuals on a short-term basis, companies can gain access to between 20 and 40 years of experience instantly.

The firm believes that placing retired skilled individuals in positions where they can mentor upcoming talent is a critical method of ensuring that their experience, knowledge and skills are not lost entirely and can be transferred to their younger, less experienced colleagues.

Another benefit is gaining access to a retiree’s existing database of working relationships and industry networks, which can be useful when dealing with suppliers, stakeholders and colleagues on site.

In addition to transferring problem-solving skills, retirees can also impart history with the project, as well as challenges that were previously faced and might appear in the future.

One retiree might be able to transfer skills to several people in a team, Bekker comments.

Quyn CEO Wayne Alcock previously suggested that, by using ratios of one retiree to three semi-skilled or unskilled younger employees, companies can work on closing the skills gap and reducing the unemployment rate by ensuring that younger employees receive experienced mentorship and guidance from industry veterans.

He notes that mining companies often have short-term, on-site projects aimed at improving their operations or expanding projects that can be ideal for establishing a hybrid model of hiring seasoned talent from the retired pool and pairing it with skilled and semiskilled younger talent.

“While no level of experience can prevent all catastrophes on the job, issues can be quickly and safely rectified by junior-level employees with the right oversight from their senior counterparts.”

Further, it is not necessary to employ retirees full-time, as working on a reduced-hours or part-time basis can be sufficient. It could also be beneficial, for example, to contract a retired individual for the first year of a five-year project.

“Thereafter, once the skills transfer has taken place and the younger counterparts are more confident in their abilities, it is possible to pass the torch entirely.

“The biggest advantage in working like this is the ability to start projects immediately and hit the ground running.”

The skills are there and can be tapped into without delay, with many retirees putting their hands up offering to help, they are still passionate about the industries they previously worked in, Bekker concludes.