Engineering Skills Development Through Mega Construction Projects (MCPs)

There is a notable engineering skills deficit (ESD) in South Africa. Among other interventions, the proliferation of skills development policies, engineering skills development programmes (ESDPs), and the use of expatriate engineering professionals in Mega Construction Projects (MCPs) have been the main interventions promulgated by the government. This study sought to investigate the effectiveness of expatriate professionals in transferring engineering skills to candidate engineers in South African MCPs. This study is of particular significance to the construction industry in South Africa and can contribute towards addressing the current ESD. Due to the nature of questions which this study pursued to answer, a case study strategy was adopted. A mixed-method data collection was used, with the aim of enabling the findings to complement each other in the form of questionnaires and in-depth interviews. Quantitative data involved numeric scores from questionnaires, and qualitative data included interviews which aimed at assessing the structure of the ESDPs in South African MCPs and also assessing the sentiments of the beneficiaries. Secondary data from annual reports were used to investigate the throughput of engineering skills since the inception of the South African MCPs. Candidates’ opinions were that there are no institutional arrangements which bind expatriates to honour their commitment to engineering skills transfer. An absence of institutional arrangements and a lack of understanding of the unique South African culture and problems related to communication barriers problems appear to be the main factors which cause expatriates to be less effective than potentially possible. The central conclusion to be drawn from the discussion is that there is a relative ESD which could increase if ESDPs are not properly structured.