Choosing The Right Place To Live Ain’t Easy These Days!

 Very interesting stats.

Economic instability, political instability and social instability are the least of my worries, its geophysical instability that really bothers me!, a returning South African (from Brisbane) joked as he celebrated his return at a Homecoming Revolution event recently.
So what is happening to the so-called Brain Drain in SA? Are we still leaking talent, or has the hole been plugged, and is talent beginning to return ‘home’.
Some background that is influencing ‘mobility’
• Clem Sunter talks of the dramatically changing ‘world order’ and how this is impacting the views of young talented people and their ‘nest building’ decisions. “Essentially there is a growing difference in the economic prospects of the developing vs the developed world. The economic growth prospects for Asia (+/- 5%), Africa (+/- 5%) and South America (+/-5%) are significantly greater than that of Europe, UK and USA (+/- 1.7%) … this is good for SA. Using a soccer analogy of the Premier League, Second League and Failed State, SA is part of the premier league of the world’s top 57 nations, we have previously moved from 33rd to 52nd and we are now on our way back at 44th. I think that after the success of the World Cup we could well emerge back into the lower 30s.”
• In the Global Competitiveness Report our Brain Drain positioning has moved from 60th to 40th where 1 is no brain drain at all.
• Many of South Africa’s eminent removal companies tell of a significant shift in mobility. “On the South / North route for every one family going approximately three are returning, even on the South / South route (mostly Oz and NZ) more are returning than are going!”
Homecoming Revolution findings
The Homecoming Revolution, (a non-profit organisation founded in 2003 by advertising agency morrisjones & co and sponsored by First National Bank) has seen an increase in traffic to its site and a shift in attitude towards South Africa. They attribute this shift to an increase in awareness of the country and what it has to offer. Much is credited to South Africa’s international exposure during the 2010 World Cup as well as its inclusion in BRICS and a sharper focus on developing countries.
Brigitte Lightfoot, MD explains: “We have seen a 137% year-on-year increase in the number of visits to our blog (http://www.homecomingrevolution.co.za/blog) from February 2010 to February 2011, compared to the same period in the previous year. An increase in traffic from secondary markets like Australia, Canada and Ireland indicates that more South Africans living in these countries are considering a return home and are looking to connect with others who have already made the move back to South Africa’’.
Tyron Whitley, who runs a car import agency in South Africa, has seen a similar trend evident among returning expats. “Since August 2010 we have seen a 30% increase in the number of South Africans wishing to ship their vehicles back to South Africa. The majority of the returnees are leaving the UK and we have some from Australia and Dubai. The common trend amongst the returnees is that they are aged between 30 and 40, have young families, and are looking for a better standard of living for their children. They are finding the UK economy a strain, which is the final push they require to make the decision to return to SA. I would say the majority have been in the UK for 10 years or more. On the work front a good number of the returnees are looking to start their own business or have managed to get inter-company transfers’’.
The results of a recent online poll conducted by the Homecoming Revolution reveal that 43% of their social networking group’s members are planning to return to South Africa this year, while 30% have already moved back home.
Susan Fouche, head of human resources at a Cape Town-based firm has worked with The Homecoming Revolution to source a senior candidate. She explains “we most certainly met and interviewed candidates whom the traditional methods of recruitment would not have delivered. We saw a broad range of candidates, some very senior and those who fall into the middle to senior management category. These candidates all have something in common: their desire to return to South Africa at some point and the global experience that they will be ploughing back. It was interesting to see that some of the applicants are from Cape Town, and that they have been informed by relatives or friends about the vacancy.’’
Bruce Good, a South African who has returned to Cape Town after eight years away, confirms the sentiment amongst so many South African expats in the UK: “Whilst I really love the UK , and all that it offers, I felt that in my role in the city I was an insignificant cog in a massively productive machine. I remember reading a quote along the lines of ’for every professional person who moves to SA, 11 jobs are created – both directly and indirectly’. That had a huge impact on me and I longed to have a greater impact on my surrounds than I had in London. In many respects, both business and personal, it is easier to assimilate and ‘excel’ in your country of birth. The commonality between business colleagues and associates goes a long way to forging strong bonds and, ultimately, success.’’
Global Shift
There is ample evidence to suggest that Generation Y is very mobile (those born in the late 80’s). The UK reports having lost 5m ‘young people’ over the last 10 years because they are disillusioned with the deterioration of the UK ‘identity and way of life’ and the lack of job opportunities. Australia reports the loss of 2m young people who seek my dynamic opportunities elsewhere.
That young people are on the move there is no doubt, but the lure of the civilised West, the developed world, with their stale economies and increasingly limited opportunities, is rapidly giving way to decisions that embrace dynamic opportunity, less complicated lifestyle choices, meaningful self-worth and the ability to make a social contribution………….and maybe, just maybe, a preference for geophysical stability!

Stuart Pennington