Eskom Enlists Crowdsourced Talent to Revitalize Ailing Power Stations

In a notable move to bolster its sagging power stations, South African electricity public utility Eskom has contracted 38 skilled engineers and technicians on a temporary basis through their innovative crowdsourcing initiative launched in November 2022. This strategy aims at dealing with severe problems in electricity generation by replenishing the utility's looted skills cache.

These engineers and technicians have been recruited to address fundamental problems within Eskom’s operations. Areas such as commissioning, engineering, maintenance, project delivery, quality control, and power plant training are seeing a new infusion of expertise, cautiously pointing towards incremental improvements in these business units. While Eskom has acknowledged these positive changes, it commendably recognizes the multifaceted nature of the improvements, attributing them not solely to new hires but to combined efforts of existing employees and management.

Eskom's skills shortage has been widely publicized, with an alarming rate of expertise exodus in the recent past. This skills gap was detrimental to the maintenance and operation of its power stations, resulting in unstable power supply and frequent load-shedding. In light of this, labour union Solidarity made headlines by taking up the mantle to help Eskom, proposing engineers and technicians that could reverse the ailing trends in power generation.

In a striking counter-narrative to Eskom's struggles, Solidarity offered a lifeline by proactively compiling and submitting a list of 300 skilled professionals – syphoned from their expansive network, including highly rated external individuals – to both the utility and the Department of Public Enterprises. This list comprised individuals with an impressive array of expertise, amounting to 5,500 years of collective experience in the power sector and was peppered with numerous master qualifications, including 14 PhDs. In an act of patriotism and commitment to the cause, some of these recommended individuals were even willing to volunteer their services sans compensation.

This crowdsourcing initiative, which has witnessed Eskom hiring some 18 individuals from Solidarity's list by September 2022, signals a crucial shift in addressing the labor challenges that have stymied the utility's operations. Eskom's transparent recruitment process emphasizing skills and expertise over union affiliations has paved the way for a meritorious and objective selection approach.

While the online crowdsourcing portal remains an open venue for potential applicants, with a special demand for operating skills, the narrative around Eskom's recruitment drive speaks to a larger effort of revitalizing a vital national infrastructure. The progress from both Eskom and groups like Solidarity indicates an evolving collaboration bridging the divide between labor union initiatives and corporate governance, potentially guiding Eskom towards improved power stability for South Africa.

Overall, Eskom's proactive drive epitomizes a forward-thinking approach to addressing systemic issues within the country's power generation. It’s a story of a national utility grappling with historical challenges, yet embracing modern solutions to engineer a brighter, more stable energy future for South Africans.