Skills retention and global competitiveness in civil engineering to address Southern African mobility challenges

Abstract

There is an increasing skills shortage in engineering in southern Africa, particularly in transport engineering. This is exacerbated by factors like an aging experienced workforce, emigration of skilled personnel, and a perceived lack of effective training programs. This lack of skills impacts on the countries’ ability to deliver the necessary transportation infrastructure. What are the underlying issues, particularly with respect to traffic and transport engineers; those that need to address the mobility challenges in the southern African context. This presentation attempts to ask critical questions related to this matter. Who controls the workflow? What is the value of the traffic engineer? Are traffic engineers expensive? If so, why? Define expensive? Continuity of work is an issue when retaining skills. How do we address this?