Chitiga-Mabugu M., Ngandu S., (2012) Development of a national skills forecasting model. Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa

Skills forecasting is necessitated by the need to improve transparency on South Africa's labour
markets, the desire to increase the skill level of its population, the need to understand long term
projections that then feed into policy making to inform education and training strategies. As the
world economies have become more and more complex as well as barraged by crises, it becomes
impossible to rely only of traditional signals such as the market and prices for future skills demand
and supply. Skills forecasts are needed, not only by policy makers in terms of budget allocations,
projections of growth in the economy and education and training planning, they are also needed by
the private sector, both industries and households. Indeed this information is so crucial that it could
be taken as a public good. Skills forecasts are not to be interpreted as if predicting the future, as this
is impossible, they are meant to guide plans for the future. Such an exercise allows for a mapping of
different scenarios that under uncertainty are valuable for strategising for the future. It is important
that the approaches be comprehensive and cover both supply and demand sides.