Developing a Conceptual Framework of Skills Immigration in South Africa (original) (raw)
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South Africa suffers from a shortage of skills, while at the same time having an excess of unskilled labour. The brain drain and the impact of HIV/Aids are threats to the current skills level in the labour force. Skilled workers generally create jobs for unskilled workers, and the level of skills in the labour force is an attraction for foreign investment. The new international migration policy imposes nancial penalties and other restrictions on employers of foreigners with skills. The policy is detrimental to South Africa's competitiveness in the global economy and will deter investors and those needing to utilise skills not available in the South African labour market. A general immigration policy would be more appropriate to attract skilled foreigners to South Africa, where their skills can be absorbed into the labour force by supply and demand forces.
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South Africa is presently experiencing a serious shortage of skilled workers. This situation is negatively influencing the economic prospects and global participation of the country. The primary purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of sa's immigration policy to support skills immigration. The outcome of this study indicated that South Africa's immigration policy is restrictive and has undoubtedly influenced the shortage of skills in the country. This study has confirmed the findings of similar studies undertaken by the Centre for Development and Enterprise that South Africa's skills immigration policy is very restrictive and is thus not helpful in addressing the skills shortages of the country.
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Journal of Social Sciences, 2014
Since skills shortages is a global phenomenon, there is fierce competition amongst countries to attract skilled labour so as to improve their competitive footing in the global economy. One major way that these countries strive to achieve their goal, is through promoting targeted skills immigration programmes to attract skilled workers. South Africa takes lessons from these countries in its attempt to alleviate its skills shortages and be part of this global economy. A literature review of South Africa's immigration policy was undertaken with a view to evaluate its approach for skills immigration.. A survey-based research design was adopted using a closed questionnaire to determine the respondents view on enlisting skilled labour for the purpose of reducing skills shortages in the country. The sample consisted of 800 organisations/businesses that seek to employ skilled foreign labour in South Africa. The outcome of this paper pointed to a general consensus that South Africa's policy on skills immigration is in need of radical review. It is highly restrictive, bureaucratic, user-unfriendly and costly to administer. Moreover, it serves as an impediment for business and industry to recruit skilled foreign labour into the country as a result of excessive, and often, unnecessary regulations and procedures.
Push and Pull Factors in Relation to Skills Shortages in South Africa
Journal of Social Sciences, 2012
There are many factors that push people out of the country. While affirmative action is one factor that contributes to emigration of skilled individuals, other factors include: crime, better wage offers, better quality of life and future for their children, economic stability and improved health care. These factors include: attractive salary packages, early retirement within the education sector, an opportunity to gain international work experience, an improved lifestyle and a variety of career choices. Immigrants, on the other hand, are pulled to South Africa as they see this as offering them economic opportunities that are not available in their home countries. These immigrants range from a large number of unskilled to a limited number of highly skilled workers. The main purpose of this study was to determine the factors that push or pull skilled labour into or out of South Africa and the consequences of this movement. The outcome of this study was achieved through undertaking a brief literature review of push-and-pull factors, followed by the empirical research. A survey-based research design was adopted using a closed questionnaire to determine the factors that either push or pull skilled labour from or to South Africa. The sample consisted of 800 organisations/businesses that seek to employ skilled foreign labour in South Africa. The results of this study have confirmed the findings of other research and similar studies undertaken. These push-and-pull factors cannot be addressed overnight; therefore, the recruitment of skilled foreign workers could be a short-to medium-term solution to the problem.
Skilled labour migration from developing countries: Study on South and Southern Africa
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Executive Summary By all standards, the emigration of highly skilled people from Southern Africa, and especially from the Republic of South Africa, is high. Measuring it is not an easy exercise though it is a necessary one if one wants to stop endless speculation and interpretation over the phenomenon. For this reason, the study has selected data emanating from the major receiving countries of South African human capital, in order to remedy the deficiencies of the notoriously unreliable national data about emigration.
Paper presented at the Bridging the Skills Gap 2006 Conference, Sandton, 15-17 November 2006, 2006
The shortage of critical skills in South Africa has been part of the skills development debate in this country for some time. As the country is preparing for the FIFA World Cup in 2010 and more skilled workers are needed, this debate has been elevated to another level, with serious concerns being raised as to why we find ourselves in this precarious situation. Through initiatives such as the Shared and Accelerated Skills Growth Initiative of South Africa (ASGISA), government has shown that it is aware of the problem and that something needs to be done. One avenue for addressing the skills shortages in South Africa, particularly in the area of critical skills, is foreign recruitment. Of course this option has its own challenges and implications for the source countries, the recruiting countries and, most importantly, also for the workers. In this paper we reflect on some of these challenges and implications from the perspective of the South African Qualifications Authority. We present some of the initial data on applications for the evaluation of foreign qualifications submitted between June and October 2006 and, in responding to the question whether foreign recruitment provides the answer to the shortage of critical skills in South Africa, make a case for the long-term management of foreign skills recruitment in South Africa through two routes: (1) A more coordinated approach to the recognition of the qualifications of migrant workers, facilitated in part through the establishment of national and regional qualifications frameworks; and (2) The protection of the integrity of national systems through the effective collection of data on the evaluation and recognition of foreign qualifications, which may lead to the development of improved recruitment and migration policies.
Skills Shortage in South Africa: Interrogating the Repertoire of Discussions
Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 2014
"The object of this paper was to examine skills shortage in South Africa specifically to unearth the myriad arguments around the subject but more importantly to unveil what has consistently lacked in the narratives of previous authors on the subject. In this regard, this paper has provided interesting insights into the attempts by countries such as New Zealand and Australia in stemming the tide of the scourge. The authors chose literature review as the main source of data collection. The paper also dishes what the authors consider as possible remedies to the scourge, while it advises that the problem of skills shortage is not the exclusive preserve of government. Further, the authors acknowledge that although the National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS) and its learnership programmes have experienced a huge amount of criticism, skills development is and will remain a dynamic and evolving process for addressing skills shortage as a long term strategy. There is no doubt that this paper has value in that it draws attention to the various issues associated with skills shortage especially in South Africa. Although the problem of skills shortage has been previously identified, it should be noted that it presents a significant problem in any society, and therefore demands regular attention."