'Suddenly local is lekker in SA' By Fred Kockott IOL 27 Jan 2009
Many South Africans living abroad might soon be returning home as a "tidal wave of global job shedding" gathers momentum.
Recruitment agencies such as The Personnel Concept and Renwick Talent are already reporting a dramatic increase in the number of international professionals and South Africans living abroad seeking employment in South Africa.
These agents, and Homecoming Revolution, a non-profit organisation that encourages South Africans living abroad to return home, now reckon that a new year prediction by analyst Clem Sunter, that South Africa will experience a major reversal in the flow of skills, is coming true.
"Suddenly local is lekker in South Africa," wrote Sunter in a recent newspaper column, Ten things to watch in 2009.
South Africa has long suffered a serious flight of human capital, even before 1994, but in his 2009 forecast, Sunter said this brain drain could be reversed "in the event of a prolonged worldwide recession". "Our economy is unlikely to suffer as much as, say, the UK, America and Canada," said Sunter."We are the America of Africa in that we represent a little less than 5 percent of the continent's population and produce 30 percent of the continent's GDP."This week, a recession was officially declared in the UK, and Reuters reports that Australia, which is a major importer of skills, has announced there is to be a review of the country's migrant intake, making it less open than it was in the past.Georgina Barrick, managing director of Renwick Talent, said recruiting agencies in South Africa were experiencing an increase of between 20 percent and 25 percent in international professionals inquiring about employment opportunities in South Africa."We are receiving about five applications a week and about two thirds of these are South Africans," said Barrick."There are always opportunities for appropriate skills in South Africa. We are an emerging economy, rich in commodities and well placed to be able to meet global demand, and when power changes in Zimbabwe, which it will, there will be an inflow of capital, with South Africa as the gateway to assist Zimbabwe," said Barrick.Marthine Schaffer, managing director of Homecoming Revolution, said whereas past "homecomings" had been largely due to people discovering that the "grass was not greener on the other side", many South Africans made redundant amid the recession abroad would have "little choice but to come home"."The story in 2008 was all about people leaving; 2009 will be about people returning," said Schaffer.John Loos, a property strategist at FNB Home Loans, said estate agents held the view that the percentage of sellers selling in order to emigrate declined significantly from 20 percent in the previous quarter to 14 percent in the final quarter of 2008.This follows a steady rise since late-2007.Should this be the start of a downward trend in emigration selling, it would not only provide support for the property market but for the economy as a whole, he said.He too expects to see not just fewer people leaving for jobs abroad as the economic crisis deepens, but an increase in expats returning to South Africa.
- This article was originally published on page 6 of Pretoria News on January 27, 2009
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