How to solve unemployment. I think.

Did you see that there were over 800 thousand skilled job openings in South Africa? Not being filled..... sadly. According to the Adcorp Employment Index (AEI). If you are looking for the more specific AEI May 2011 to find out why we have so many vacancies, then here is a copy paste, or follow the link above: ".. Adcorp calculates that there are currently 829,800 unfilled positions for high-skilled workers across a wide range of occupations.."

And the reasons why? Check it out: "To a great extent, the shortage of high-skilled workers has been artificially induced by the Immigrations Act (2002), which made it exceedingly difficult for foreigners to find work in South Africa. The most recent amendments to the Immigrations Act, promulgated in April 2011, prohibit the use of immigration agents and quota work permits, both of which have historically been widely used by South African companies seeking foreign skills."

Which has led to "South African citizens' wages in high-skilled occupations have been unduly escalated, in inflation-adjusted terms, by 286.4% since 2000." OK, this report is not new news, but it certainly got me thinking a lot. Remember that (controversial I could say) piece that was published that spoke of each highly skilled job leaving the country and the knock on effect on employment. Something along the line that if a doctor emigrated to say Canada, then 10 odd local jobs directly and indirectly would be lost. Surely the same could apply in reverse?

Don't remember that report, let me refresh your memory, from the 15th of October 2010, where I wrote:

WHAT? Don't read this if you just ate. This comes from an excerpt of a fairly old study: Human Capital Flight: Stratification, Globalization and the Challenges to Tertiary Education in Africa and I am not too sure how much we should place on it, but this is quality stuff. I saw it via a reference on Wiki.


Bottom of page 3: "South Africa has lost 25% of its graduates to the USA alone. Moreover, South Africans account for 9.7% of all international medical graduates practicing in Canada. Out of all the medical graduates produced by Witwatersrand University in the last 35 years - more than 45% or 2000 physicians, have left the country. The South Africa's Bureau of Statistics estimates that between 1 million and 1.6 million people in skilled, professional and managerial occupations have emigrated since 1994, and that for every emigrant, 10 unskilled people lose their jobs."

Bottom end of the range (remember that this was done in 2004, the numbers could vary a lot since then) suggests that 10 million unskilled jobs could be created if these folks returned. Or did not leave at all. Which is more than all the jobs that we have in the formal sector right now. Surely this is a bigger problem than a weaker Rand? Just saying.

Back to the present. Here me out. If all 830 thousand positions were filled with professionals from India, or Indonesia, or Malaysia, or Thailand, Pakistan, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, I do not really care, as long as the people are good enough for the jobs, would the knock on effect be more jobs created with less skilled jobs? The short answer is very definitely yes. AND, in order to eradicate unemployment, invite the skills in, knowing that whilst you are creating and nurturing your own skills, at least unemployment is not going to be a yoke around your neck forever.