Skilled labour in the footwear industry of KwaZulu-Natal.

Abstract

This dissertation was compiled to place into context and to address the problem of skills shortages in the footwear industry of KwaZulu-Natal. It is often said that the voice that shouts the loudest, and the one that has the most media coverage usually acquires the most buy-in and belief, however this is not the most reliable source. The current demise of the local footwear industry has been attributed to the lack of Government protection and the lack of productivity of the local workforce, in the wake of globalisation. This dissertation presents to the reader a review of recent literature on the topic of skills shortages and also encompasses and endeavours to address the issue of the shortage of skills in the footwear industry. The reader is also provided with an insight into the background of the South African footwear industry, which has been highlighted to give the reader an understanding of the problems facing the footwear industry. Due attention and consideration has also been placed on the effects of globalisation on competitiveness in the footwear industry of KwaZulu-Natal, and how the lack of skilled labour and higher labour costs due to more labour being required, accentuates the apparent problem. A quantitative study of the skills shortage in the footwear industry of KwaZulu-Natal was also conducted and incorporated to provide more conclusive feedback and results. This process entailed conducting telephonic interviews with thirty-four Production managers of the total number of manufacturers, to assess the following: 1. The extent to which the KwaZulu-Natal footwear industry lacks skilled labour. 2. Whether the lack of skilled labour leads to the production of inferior quality footwear. 3. Whether or not manufacturing techniques require more labour as a result of individuals not being adequately skilled. 4. If the overall cost of the production of a shoe is rendered as being higher as a result of more labour being required to execute the production. 5. To determine if footwear manufactured in KwaZulu-Natal can compete with international standards with respect to the footwear industry. The research study considers and tests nine different hypotheses. The instruments used in the questionnaire were tested for reliability with the use of the Cronbach' s Alpha Coefficient, which is regarded as the most common way of measuring reliability. The study of the findings includes a descriptive statistical analysis and a correlation analysis of the variables. An interesting finding is the correlation between hypotheses two (The lack of skilled labour leads to inferior quality footwear) and four (As a result of more labour being required the overall cost of the shoe is higher) which produced an exceptionally high correlation, i.e. r = 0.58 and significance< 0.01. This implies that there is a strong correlation between inferior quality footwear produced by labour short of skill and the overall cost of the footwear. Bearing in mind that correlations simply show the degree of the relationship and do not show causality, the results appear to indicate that skilled labour produce higher quality footwear than unskilled labour, and that fewer skilled operators are required to do the same job. Findings of this nature are discussed in the study, which assist in the conclusion of the research conducted. The following recommendations have been formulated from a close study of the findings of this research study. 1. As a recommendation, employer-based surveys or interviews which gather information from individual employers on workers' specific skills in the footwear industry will help measure skills available (Barker, 1999:212). 2. To improve the return on their investment, to encourage employers to provide opportunities for their employees to acquire new skills, to encourage employees to participate in training programs, and to improve the employment prospects of those not currently employed. More emphasis needs to be placed on labour intensive manufacturing processes by government, as it is the view of the industry that nothing significant was being done (Stryker et al., 2001:6). 3. It is important that the industry has the correct apprenticeship programs in place to secure the existence of these skills. Barker (1999:233) states that new patterns of work often also require flexible and highly skilled workers. With restructuring of management it is common place where workers are required to function without direct supervision and to be able to correct small hiccups in the production process on their own initiative. 4􀀄 Job rotation will have the following benefits to the industry. The worker becomes more versatile thus learning new skills. With these new skills he can move to a higher paid position when a vacancy occurs. The company benefits in that they have a more highly skilled labour force that are able to step into a position when the need arises unlike the situation today where certain skilled positions have no 'back-up' (Human Sciences Research Council, 1999:33). 5. New market areas, new products, new ways of producing and providing services are reshaping the skills required. The industry has to keep abreast of the latest skills and technology available by having product fares inviting international companies to introduce modem technology locally. And in essence becoming more involved with the international industry from an innovation point of view (Bhorat et al., 2003:46). The writer has put forth an action plan to make implementation of these recommendations practical in the workplace.