More SA professionals considering emigrating - survey

Rising concern over issues such as crime, healthcare and education are leading more graduate professionals in South Africa to consider emigrating, according to the latest results from the PPS Graduate Professionals Confidence Index.

The quarterly survey, which tracks the confidence levels of nearly 6 000 of South Africa’s graduate professionals, revealed a 6% year-on-year decline in the number of professionals who are confident of remaining in South Africa for the foreseeable future to 78% from 84% a year ago. The figure was also down 5% on the previous three months.

According to Gerhard Joubert, Head of Group Marketing and Stakeholder Relations at PPS, while a confidence level of 78% is still very positive, it is concerning that this figure has declined. “Graduate professionals such as doctors, lawyers and accountants are a crucial segment of the economy and like many other countries we already face a major skills shortage within these professions. It is crucial that the concerns of this segment are taken into account to ensure that we do not lose further scarce skills.”

Confidence in the standard of education in South Africa improving over the next five years was also down 2% to 48% year-on-year, although it remains unchanged on the previous two quarters.

However, Joubert says even more alarming for graduate professionals is the lack of mathematics and science graduates in South Africa with 94% of respondents citing this as a concern. “Many of our skills shortages are in professions that require a mathematics or science degree so it is critical that we address the reasons for fewer people opting to study these subjects, as fewer graduates in these fields now will lead us to an even greater skills shortage in the future.”

Confidence that unemployment would improve over the next five years also fell 4% year-on-year to 42%. Joubert says the recent Labour Force Survey that showed South Africa lost 75 000 net jobs in the first three months of the year indicates that there is a good reason for such concern.

Confidence in the future of the healthcare system over the next five years fell 5% to 45% year-on-year. The deterioration in confidence is reflected by concern over the implementation of the National Health Insurance initiative with 84% of respondents saying it is not the solution to fix the country’s ailing health system.

Joubert says members of PPS have previously voiced their concern that the NHI Green Paper in its current form does not provide sufficient detail on the proposal and that an efficient private sector is an essential component of the healthcare system. “Many graduate professionals support the principle of improving the healthcare system for all South Africans to ensure better healthcare for all citizens but are concerned over the way it is being implemented. Further consultation on the issue is vital to ensure all stakeholders buy into the process.”

The survey also revealed a confidence level of 60% among graduate professionals on the issue of whether they have saved enough to retire comfortably.

“This is concerning, as it means that well over a third of graduate professionals have not saved sufficiently for their retirement, are aware that their current retirement savings rate is inadequate or – more worryingly still – are unsure of what their savings rate should be,” says Nick Battersby, CEO at PPS Investments.

“We welcome Government’s proposed retirement reform to address South Africa’s low savings rate, but also encourage investors to consider not only whether they are saving enough, but also whether they are saving appropriately.”

91% of respondents said they do not feel tax incentives currently offered by the government are sufficient to encourage South Africans to save, while 64% also said they believe that compulsory preservation is necessary to improve the situation.

Other results from the survey

· Confidence about the future of their profession over the next 5 years was 80%

· 61% of respondents said they would encourage their children to enter their profession

· Confidence in their ability to earn an income that keeps up with inflation was 70%

· Confidence in the economic outlook for South Africa over the next 12 months was 62%

· Confidence in the outlook for local equity / share markets fell to 63% from 71% a year ago

· Confidence in crime rates improving over the next five years fell to 43% from 45% a year ago