Employment opportunities

Since mechanical engineering is not restricted to any specific type of business the trained person has a wide choice. Although the expertise and skills of the technician find their optimum application in the manufacturing and maintenance industry, they can find employment in practically any field, e.g. mining, agriculture, hospitals, banks, and other services.

The major manufacturing undertakings offer job opportunities to most of the mechanical engineering technicians, who have completed their studies. They may be appointed in the fields of maintenance and/or manufacturing, or in specialized fields such as Air Conditioning, Mechatronics or Computer Systems. The major employers are organisation, such as ISCOR, Columbus Stainless SASOL, SIEMENS, POLIFIN, SABS, TRANSNET, ESCOM or TELKOM, but many smaller companies employ mechanical engineering technicians and technologists as well.

A serious shortage of trained mechanical engineering technicians exists in South Africa and any person wishing to become qualified in this field is eagerly taken on by industry. The fact that such a great demand for mechanical engineering technicians exists results in their remuneration and progress opportunities being extremely attractive.