Government`s assertion that the tide has turned against the brain-drain experienced by the country in recent years is supported by the ITWeb Salary Survey 2006, which reflects a marked decline in South Africans planning to leave the country.
The survey asked if people with permanent jobs, as well as those with contract positions, have seriously considered leaving the country within the next 12 months, and why.
[CHART]Out of over 3 500 permanently employed respondents, less than half answered this set of questions, which could suggest that the remainder have no plans to leave.
Out of those who replied, 69% said "no", 16% said "maybe", 10% indicated they "don`t know", while only 4% answered "yes". Last year, slightly less respondents said no (68%), and slightly more (5%) indicated they would be leaving SA.
Of those who have taken steps to relocate, or may consider it within the next year, 30% cited better career prospects and growth opportunities as the top reason, which mirrors last year`s findings.
Crime/violence took the number two spot again this year with 21%. This remains unchanged from last year, and is down from the 2004 figure of 26%.
[CHART]Money and better wealth creation prospects rated number three with just over 20% up from 15% last year and 18% in 2004.
Political reasons/government policies dropped to 11% from almost 16% last year. Economic uncertainty, social security and welfare and no job security remained constant over the last three years, with 3% to 5% of respondents citing these as reasons for leaving.
Retrenchment as a factor for leaving SA dropped to 0.2% this year, down from 1.5% last year. From this it can be surmised that perceived job security is on the up, with fewer people being retrenched or fewer respondents feeling they would be unable to find a job following retrenchment.
Contractors
Nine percent of contractors plan to leave within the next 12 months, while almost 54% said "no", almost 16% said "don`t know" and 22% said "maybe". Some 294 respondents out of the total of 537 did not answer the question.
[CHART]In this group, 31% of those who said they would be leaving indicated career prospects/career growth opportunities was the main reason, while 23% cited money/better wealth creation prospects.
Similar to permanently employed IT professionals, 20% of contractors indicated crime/violence prompted them to consider leaving. Political reasons/government policies came in at 12%, while 6% indicated the lack of job security.
Our survey findings show a continued downward trend over the past several years. Meanwhile, the South African government has taken steps to entice expatriates back to the country.
The Department of Trade and Industry`s deputy director general of enterprise and industrial development, Lionel October recently stated that the department is on a major recruitment drive through its 120 foreign offices to attract skilled South Africans back into the country.
It`ll be interesting to track the success of this exercise in our next year`s survey.
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