Addressing skills shortages in the South African residential construction industry through automation: a case study of Gauteng region
Date
2019
Authors
Takawira, Memory
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Abstract
The construction industry remains a cornerstone and plays a leading in many national and global
economies and contributes up to 10% of GDP in developed countries and more than 25 % in developing
countries. In South Africa since 2008, the industry has been contributing an average of 9% of the total
employment in both formal and informal sectors and around 9% towards the GDP. Despite playing such
a significant role i researches have shown that the industry is crippled with
many challenges which amongst others include shortages of skilled personnel to do the work. The
construction industry which oftentimes is
however, over the years it has failed to deliver as per expectations owing to these skills shortages.
Previous researches on construction skills shortage have focused on education and training as a remedy
but this has failed to yield the desired solutions as the skills shortages are still being felt despite heavy
investments in education and training. A more radical approach is thus needed to overcome these
challenges. This study is therefore conducted to evaluate the potential use of robotics, automation and
artificial intelligence in addressing skills shortages in the South African construction industry.
In order to evaluate the potential use of automation and artificial intelligence in addressing skills
shortages, there was a need to establish the records of the current skills shortage and the benefits of
automation in overcoming such skills shortages. For this, meta-synthesis of existing literature was
used for global skills shortages and the advantages of construction automation. To narrow down the
issue of skills shortages specifically to the South African construction industry, five interviews were
contacted to identify the enablers and threats for using construction automation in the country as
well as the extent to which the use of such automation can affect the perceived labour intensive
construction industry.
Results from this study shows that, despite the construction industry playing a significant role in many
economies globally, there are damning results when it comes to skills shortage. With the advent of the
4th Industrial Revolution, the use of automation and artificial intelligence in the construction industry is
the next big thing. The research concluded that, although cconstruction automation and robotic
technologies can be adopted and used, there should be compensation of the benefits accruing from the
use of automation and artificial intelligence to offset the possibility of high levels of unemployment
Description
A research project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Science (building) in construction project Johannesburg, South Africa
October 2019
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Citation
Takawira, Memory (2019) Addressing skills shortage in the South African Construction Industry through automation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <http://hdl.handle.net/10539/29032>