South Africa January 2007 |
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| Luring brain drain skills back home, (Cape Argus, 2007-01-13):-First World countries are poaching our skilled workers. "And we need to counteract this," said Martine Schaffer, managing director of Homecoming Revolution, a non-profit organisation that encourages South Africans living abroad to return home. Last year the organisation held an exhibition in London and Dublin, called Woza Ekhaya, which means "Come Home". The event was attended by nearly 1 200 people in London, and by another 150 in Dublin, "exceeding all our expectations," said Schaffer. Twenty-one companies including Sappi, Rand Merchant Bank, Dimension Data, First National Bank, Netcare and Bombela Consortium took part. Schaffer said countries such as Australia and England lured our professionals away. "Australia is actively coming here to take our skills. We need to counteract. The events we held (in Britain) were crucial because we need to attract our own people. "If we don't, there will be more of a brain drain. South Africans abroad need to know there are opportunities at home. "Over 250 jobs are being offered to people who attended the event. This includes nurses, paramedics, financial managers, engineers, project managers and IT professionals. These are some of the many skills identified as areas of shortage in South Africa." Although these job opportunities were advertised locally, companies were unable to find the necessary skills. "We have had a long brain drain over many years; we have lost highly skilled people in health, academics and education. "We have had huge sections lost over many years. We are seeing a lot of youngsters going to London, but that's not our target market. Homecoming Revolution targets people in their 30s and 40s with skills acquired from living abroad, and most of them are young families wanting to come home," she said. "The calibre and skill of people who attended (the event) was of an exceptionally high standard. It is very important for us to be able to offer a vehicle for companies to get in direct touch with talent abroad. "So much has been said about the skills shortage and there are programmes taking place to train and develop new skills, but not much is being done about addressing the talent that is abroad and getting them to contribute. The people who are returning home are keen to share their skills and knowledge," said Schaffer. She added that a lot of work has to be done "if we are going to even begin to chip away at the skills shortage". Shirley Chetty, a recruitment specialist for Dimension Data SA, said: "IT is a very complex industry and constantly requires skills and experience." | |
South African Migration Project (SAMP) - Queen's University - http://www.queensu.ca/samp |