Skilled South Africans are taking overseas jobs as local opportunities decline

Despite Covid-19 and accompanying lockdowns, many international markets are seeing a surge in recruitment as optimistic companies prepare for an economic rebound.

Rob Ridout, international job search consultant, said local professionals are eager to seek employment abroad for several reasons.

Chiefly, they want to live somewhere safer, not just for better security but also greater economic stability. Some also fear that, under current local conditions, they risk losing their jobs and remaining unemployed for an extended period.

“At the executive level, many see the door to career progression slamming shut as local business continues to contract,” he said.

“By comparison, international recruitment is thriving, with major economies like Germany and the Netherlands posting hundreds of thousands of job ads on the web.”

Ridout said that top positions on offer include IT, engineering, medical, logistics and management roles.

He advised that candidates upgrade their CVs for AI-driven short-listing systems that are becoming commonplace overseas, and up their digital interviewing skills.

“International search exposes South Africans to a greater pool of jobs, but they need to pursue them aggressively to compete against global talent,” he said.

Skilled people leaving 

Rand Merchant Bank chief executive James Formby has previously warned that the country’s post-lockdown economy is likely to be set back by a brain drain of skills leaving the country.

In a February interview, Formby said that the country is losing qualified and experienced people in their thirties and forties to positions overseas.

This is especially the case for skills in the infrastructure and development sectors, which have been highlighted by president Cyril Ramaphosa as key to the country’s recovery.

Formby added that it was extremely difficult to bring skilled people into the country which has led to an erosion in the country’s skill base – a serious issue flagged by RMB.

Data from the Boston Consulting Group shows that most people’s view of work has been changed by the pandemic, with the result that countries that have managed the pandemic well by ‘flattening the curve’ have grown in popularity as emigration destinations.

Desired emigration countries now include:

• Canada;
• US;
• Australia;
• Germany;
• UK;
• Japan;
• Switzerland;
• Singapore;
• France;
• New Zealand.

“On an extremely positive note, 57% of respondents indicated that they would be willing to work remotely for a company that did not have a physical presence in their home country,” the group said.

However, specialised immigration firm Xpatweb said that there is a concerning factor that 73% of organisations would also consider this option, which could further accelerate the skills brain drain without citizens even leaving the country.

“This may be good news for the fiscus, but it is a concern for South African businesses, which will now have to compete on this new virtual plane to retain the interest of local skilled professionals for whom it is becoming increasingly easy to be globally mobile while working remotely from home.”

However, the group said that there are a number of skills that are still in short supply in South Africa, with demand set to continue for at least the next few years as other countries also face similar skills challenges.

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