Bottlenecks and constraints within the local labour market for engineers in the petrochemical industry sector : a case study of Engen Refinery, Wentworth.
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Date
2009
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Abstract
This research investigates the specific labour market dynamics that underline the
shortage of engineers in the Petrochemical Industry in South Africa. The central
argument of this dissertation is that an understanding of a skills shortage requires a
distinct knowledge of the internal and external nature of each labour market in which
the shortage is being experienced. This dissertation develops a critique of the neoclassical
perspective which dominates current analysis of skill shortages. While it is
important to understand the external labour market, it is equally important to consider
the internal labour market to better identify and understand the specific dynamics that
underline a skills shortage in an organisation and industry.
Using Engen Refinery as a case study, this dissertation focuses on an in depth
examination of the experiences of engineers working at the Refinery. The findings
reveal that the dynamics that underline the skill shortage of engineers in the
Petrochemical Industry in the South African context are manifold. Skill shortages are
a consequence of dynamics in both the external and internal labour market; these I
argue are interrelated.
Description
Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.
Keywords
Chemical engineers--Supply and demand--KwaZulu-Natal., Petroleum industry and trade--Job vacancies--South Africa., Theses--Industrial, organisational and labour studies.