{"id":769216,"date":"2024-04-28T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-28T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=769216"},"modified":"2024-04-26T16:03:40","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T14:03:40","slug":"mass-exodus-of-skilled-south-africans-and-the-jobs-theyre-tapping-into","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/769216\/mass-exodus-of-skilled-south-africans-and-the-jobs-theyre-tapping-into\/","title":{"rendered":"Mass exodus of skilled South Africans \u2013 and the jobs they&#8217;re tapping into"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Data from several statistical bodies show an escalating trend of highly skilled South Africans\u2014professionals, managers, and tradespeople\u2014moving abroad to countries like the United Kingdom and Australia, with fewer returning home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the latest data from the Migration Profile Report for South Africa 2023, the number of South Africans living abroad has increased by 82% over the past 20 years\u2014from around 501,600 to 914,901.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Seven out of 10 South African expats live in Europe or Oceania, while Australia and New Zealand have seen a large growth in South African residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The report noted that the number of South Africans in Australia increased by 150% over the 20-year period and by 190% in New Zealand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the United Kingdom (UK) has the most South Africans, followed by Australia, the USA, New Zealand, and Canada. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the UK Office of National Statistics&#8217; latest census, 205,000 South Africans live in England and Wales, and many of them are highly qualified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More than half (54%) of those aged 16 years and older hold higher education qualifications such as a degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This remains true with regard to those who have moved to Australia, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics noting that 43% of South African expats have a bachelor\u2019s degree or higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The latest census conducted by the Australian authority showed that around 189,207 people born in South Africa live in Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Interestingly, the census also provided the jobs taken up by many of the South African expats in Australia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The data\u2014compiled by <a href=\"https:\/\/charts.theoutlier.co.za\/chart\/87107\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Outlier<\/a>\u2014 shows that <strong>one third (36%) of the South African-born people living there were working as professionals, with popular examples being doctors, teachers, accountants, and lawyers.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>15% hold management roles, while other notable jobs include: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Clerical and admin;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tradespeople and technicians;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Community and personal services; <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sales; <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Labourers; and <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Machinery operators and drivers. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Why they&#8217;re leaving <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A recent <a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/749002\/skilled-youth-in-south-africa-are-flooding-to-these-5-countries-and-heres-why\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">survey<\/a> conducted by the Inclusive Society Institute (ISI) found that the number of young skilled professionals wishing to leave has increased, and <strong>the main reason for this is job opportunities.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cConcerningly, the data showed that the number of South Africans wanting to leave the country increased with qualification levels and remuneration or wealth,\u201d ISI CEO Daryl Swanepoel <a href=\"https:\/\/www.enca.com\/videos\/brain-drain-surge-sa-professionals-applying-move-abroad\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even more concerning, however, is that Swanepoel noted that skilled South Africans between the ages of 18 and 24 years are the most likely to emigrate \u2013 with 13.56% seriously considering the move compared to the 9% average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Economic and personal well-being considerations mainly drove South Africans who indicated their intention to emigrate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>23.18% of South Africans who indicated that they were considering emigration cited better job opportunities as the rationale for their consideration, while 9.79% suggested overall better opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>9.69% cited a better life\/standard of living as the reason. A failing South African state and lousy governance were the other contenders in the top five.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Screenshot-2024-02-06-140947.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"573\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Screenshot-2024-02-06-140947-1024x573.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-769252\" srcset=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Screenshot-2024-02-06-140947-1024x573.png 1024w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Screenshot-2024-02-06-140947-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Screenshot-2024-02-06-140947-768x430.png 768w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Screenshot-2024-02-06-140947.png 1137w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/768806\/businesses-in-south-africa-are-struggling-with-the-new-normal\/\">Businesses in South Africa are struggling with the \u2018new normal\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The number of skilled South Africans that have jumped ship has almost doubled within a decade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":769226,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[19145,853],"class_list":["post-769216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-outlier","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=769216"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769216\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":769788,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769216\/revisions\/769788"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/769226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=769216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=769216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=769216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}