The Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa (IITPSA) 2026 IITPSA Skills Survey provides insights into ICT skills demand and supply in South Africa. The research is conducted on behalf of the Institute by Africa Analysis and under the Institute's guidance.
IITPSA General Manager, Kelvin Nhlapo, says that while this year’s survey will include the traditional questions around skills gaps and in-demand skills, it will also dive deep into the impact of AI on ICT jobs from both an employer’s and employee’s perspective.
He says: “Generative AI and Agentic AI are now driving such profound change within organisations that we felt the time was right to assess sentiment around the technology and look into how it is likely to impact ICT jobs in the short and medium term.”
The IITPSA ICT Skills Survey will include online questionnaires that assess skills demand and supply from both a corporate and practitioner perspective. The objective is to identify the most pressing skills needs from a corporate perspective, balanced against practitioners' current skills capacity and their intentions for future skills development.
In the corporate survey, the research will look at digital skills shortages and capabilities across key technologies in 20 industry sectors, as well as the ICT skills organisations expect to need in the next 12 months. In this year’s survey, organisations will also be asked about their views on AI, how AI is expected to impact recruitment and staffing requirements, and what roles they expect to see automated or augmented by AI.
The ICT practitioner survey will assess practitioners' qualifications, their skills development plans, and how they use AI in the workplace. They will also be asked about their sentiments about using AI in the workplace, whether they feel AI poses a risk to their jobs, and how they intend to respond if they do see AI as a career threat.
The survey data will also be supplemented by in-depth interviews on other topical issues affecting the ICT job market in South Africa.
Nhlapo urges South African ICT practitioners and employees to take part in the survey; to help the industry better understand the real-world impacts AI is having on local workplaces. “By gauging the sentiments and experience of stakeholders in our industry, we will all be better positioned to manage the changes AI will bring, and ensure that the South African ICT sector’s skills pool matches future demand,” he says.
The two questionnaires are now live. All responses are anonymous and will be treated confidentially, with results reported only in aggregate. Respondents are welcome to take one or both surveys. Take the corporate survey here or the practitioner survey here
The findings of the 2026 IITPSA Skills Survey will be broadly released in the third quarter of 2026.
