South Africa will cut these jobs by 2030

Automation and digitalisation are transforming South African industries, reducing the need for clerical jobs like tellers, cashiers and postal workers. 

The 2025 World Economic Forum (WEF) Future of Jobs Report revealed the fastest-growing and fastest-declining jobs worldwide by 2030.

According to the report, employers expect broadening digital access to affect their business more than any other macro trend.

“This growing digital access is a vital enabler for new technologies that can transform labour markets,” WEF senior writer David Elliott explained.  

“Three technologies in particular are set to have the biggest impact: robots and automation, energy generation and storage technology, and AI and information processing.”

As the use of these technologies becomes more widespread, certain jobs are expected to become either more or less common. 

“The report surveyed more than 1,000 companies around the world – representing 22 industry clusters and more than 14 million workers – to take the pulse of the job market and uncover how organizations expect it to evolve between now and 2030,” Elliot explained.

“According to the surveyed executives, the three fastest-growing jobs in percentage terms are big data specialists, fintech engineers and AI and machine learning specialists.”

“A huge 86% of respondents to the survey expected AI and information processing technologies to transform their business by 2030.”

Software and applications developers rank fourth on the list, with security management specialists entering the top five due to technology trends and geopolitical factors.

The shift toward green energy and the increasing use of energy generation and storage technologies have also boosted demand for roles like autonomous and electric vehicle specialists, as well as environmental and renewable energy engineers. 

As a result, these jobs now rank among the top 15 fastest-growing professions.

On the other end of the spectrum, these technological advancements are also expected to lead to job cuts in certain industries.

According to the report, growing digital access is expected to create 19 million jobs by 2030 and replace 9 million. “AI and data processing alone will create 11 million roles and replace 9 million.”

“Robots and automation, meanwhile, are forecast to displace 5 million more jobs than they create,” Elliot said. 

“Businesses expect these trends to cause a sharp fall in roles, including various clerical roles, such as cashiers and ticket clerks, as well as administrative assistants, printing workers and accountants and auditors.”

This shift is already noticeable in South Africa. For example, while moviegoers used to purchase tickets from a person, this process has now become automated. 

Now, it is the norm for customers to pick up and pay for their movies and snacks without interacting with a human. 

Similar innovations are happening in South Africa’s fast food industry.

In 2018, McDonald’s South Africa began rolling out free-standing self-service kiosks, which allow customers to select their food, pay, and get a receipt without ever having to talk to a McDonald’s employee.

Since then, the use of these kiosks has gradually expanded to all 400 of its branches.

Self-service ordering speeds up the ordering process and ensures that customers get the exact order they want by picking all of the items themselves.

Other fast-food retailers have taken notice and started rolling out similar systems as well. 

At the top of the list of decreasing jobs, though, is postal service clerks.

This trend also reflects the situation in South Africa, where the South African Post Office (SAPO) – which is on the brink of liquidation – has already cut thousands of jobs.

A number of non-clerical jobs, including door-to-door salespeople, legal secretaries, graphic designers, and telemarketers, are also among the top 15 declining jobs. 

As technological changes continue, the skills in demand in the job market will also continue to change.

The WEF report noted that 39% of workers’ key skills are expected to change by 2030.

Technological skills, in particular, are projected to grow in importance more rapidly than any other in the next five years.

“As such, continuous learning, upskilling, and reskilling programmes will be an ongoing priority for employers between now and the end of the decade,” Elliot added.