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NEWS | DOES THE DRAFT CRITICAL SKILLS LIST MATCH SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS EXPECTATIONS?

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“It is crucial that employers who depend on internationally sourced talent provide prompt feedback,” says Marisa Jacobs, Managing Director at Xpatweb, a private firm that contributed data and expertise towards the list’s compilation. “This will ensure they are not denied business-critical skills that are scarce in South Africa.”

Interested parties have until 16h00 on 31 March 2021 to submit their comments in writing. So what should organisations be aware of?

What’s missing

According to Jacobs, several skills that did not make it onto the draft list might be cause for concern.

The first is corporate general manager. Multinationals and large corporates who wish to expand into Africa or globally often need C-suite executives with international experience. Inevitably, they recruit this expertise from countries with whom they wish to do business. So its exclusion may prove to be a strategic disadvantage.

Foreign language speakers were also missing from the list. South Africa’s thriving call centre industry is just one place where workers who speak their clients’ home language are essential to local companies growing their international business relationships.

Certain artisans are not mentioned. Although it may be argued that the country has an abundance of artisans, several highly specialised trades not on the list can only be sourced from outside our borders. Yet, more commonplace technical professions, like fitter and turner, found their way into the draft.

“I’m interested to see how local business will respond to these omissions,” says Jacobs.

Survey data

Jacobs’ comment is related to her company’s own Critical Skills Survey, through which employers indicated that the competencies mentioned above are indeed in high demand.

Xpatweb has hosted its independent survey annually for the past five years and was the only private sector firm invited to contribute to the development of the national Critical Skills List. This speaks to the quality of the data collected and the research methodology the company employs.

“It was an honour to work with the Department of Higher Education and Training, the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Labour in realising the ultimate goal of Xpatweb’s survey, which is to make a meaningful impact on the country’s economic growth,” says Jacobs.

Participation

Jacobs reports that the DHET has asked Xpatweb to collect a more detailed dataset from future Critical Skills Surveys. So its currently running survey asks more in-depth questions, like the specific role name, required experience and professional qualifications associated with each nominated skill.

She also suggests that because the survey has established itself as a trusted source of data and feeds into the national Critical Skills List, it benefits businesses who participate in it. “Our survey gives them early access to the list development process and ensures their needs are considered long before public comment is invited,” she says.

The 2021 Xpatweb Critical Skills Survey ends on 1 March and can be accessed through the company’s website.


AUTHOR
Marisa Jacobs
Marisa Jacobs
Director

NEWS | HASSLE-FREE WORK PERMIT AND VISA APPLICATIONS/RENEWALS IN AFRICA

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But since the outbreak of the Coronavirus and the recent resurgence of a high number of infections during the second wave in SA, many African countries have tightened up controls in their visa and work permit application processes for SA travellers.

Tough Regulations & Frequent Delays

So, while Africa is open for business and professionals are now able to travel to various countries since infections have now declined, there are still stringent application processes that must be followed to get the necessary approval for a trip, says Xpatweb Immigration specialist Zainab Bouziane.

Bouziane says for individuals and businesses seeking to apply independently for permits and visas to countries such as Mozambique, Angola, Kenya, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland and Tanzania, the bar has been raised higher due to local lockdowns as additional approvals are required from the SA government and many foreign offices are repeatedly shut for days when there is an outbreak of the virus in a government department.

“In the course of my work I deal with the whole of Africa, focusing on work, visa and permanent residency applications and what we are experiencing is long delays in terms of departments receiving applications because the minute there is an infection in a related department, half of the team goes into isolation and the other half works remotely. But remote working is not a thing on most of the continent as workers just treat it as a reason for a holiday,” Bouziane says.

Apart from Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which kept its offices open with limited resources available, industries had been hard hit in terms of delays in getting approval for staff to travel and work abroad.

“In Mozambique and Angola, the big oil had gas projects had to completely shut down for some time and then there were some concessions for contractors that have special permits and authority from the government to allow their people to get in on specula conditions, such as adhering to mask wearing, social distancing and limiting the number of employees on site at any given time,” she says.

Successfully Navigating the “Red Tape”

Bouziane cautions that businesses and employees seeking to navigate the visa and work permit application process, without the assistance of an immigration specialist, could expect long delays and limited feedback from government departments.

“The information provided on a destination county’s government department website regarding the application processes and what actually happens on the ground are two different things entirely. There is contradictory information provided between departments and before a professional can leave SA, it is now also not good enough just to have your travel documents and permits in order but special certificates from the SA Department of Labour and Employment and the Department of Health may be needed to facilitate the trip,” Bouziane adds.

She says due to the lockdown regulations it is vital to get this clearance showing that professionals and business people have the necessary government authority to travel across African borders. Without these approvals governments could raise questions about why it was necessary to travel to sign off on a deal or ask why a certain skill was required by the country on a specific project.

“Sometimes simply by saying the wrong thing to a government official, a professional can put his or her foot in it, and raise unnecessary questions and unleash a tangle of red tape that will delay the process, or even lead to an application being refused unduly,” Bouziane says.

Avoid the Backlog, Apply Now

During the height of the pandemic Bouziane received a flood of applications for work permits from professionals seeking to travel to Mozambique, Botswana and the United States, and her office managed to use its vast networks on the continent to ensure a swift and hassle free application process for clients.

“Unfortunately, while this is a process that you can attempt to complete yourself you will find it extremely difficult to obtain feedback from the government departments on time, which may lead to delays in obtaining approvals. It is advisable to rather seek advice from an immigration specialist to find out more about the process and to enlist their assistance to avoid  any potential problems along the way,” she advises.

SA To Issue E-Visas To Attract Foreign Skills

NEWS | SA TO ISSUE E-VISAS TO ATTRACT FOREIGN SKILLS

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In his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday evening, President Cyril Ramaphosa said work is under way with the relevant departments to reform the country’s visa and immigration regime, among other things, to grow the tourism sector.

“As international travel starts to recover in the wake of Covid-19, we will undertake a full rollout of e-visas to visitors from China, India, Nigeria, Kenya, and 10 other countries,” Ramaphosa announced.

“The challenge with the e-visa is not just to try to get it on the level other country’s already have. We need to even surpass that, because the visa regime in the world is going to change. The focus is now on health and the vaccine. Whatever e-visa we introduce, needs to be done quickly and address the needs of travellers, who do not want hassles. We have to be able to not only compete with other destinations in this regard, but outdo them,” said Nsthona.

The other important takeout for the tourism industry from this year’s SONA, in the view of Ntshona, is the importance of getting a vaccination programme rolled out in the country.

“Essentially, international travel to SA will only resume when people again have the confidence to travel, when they get the vaccine. Destinations with high levels of vaccination will have an advantage from a tourism point of view,” explained Ntshona.

“SA is lagging behind in this regard and we have some catch-up to do, otherwise we might be classified as a higher-risk destination due to not having a lot of vaccination.”

Buy locally

A third aspect from SONA which Ntshona regards as important for the tourism industry, is the president’s call for South Africans to buy locally.

“For the tourism industry we translate that into ‘travel locally’. We want people to support the tourism sector, not by giving aid but by doing trade. Those fantastic resorts previously out of reach for all of us, are now within reach as there is currently no international market,” he said.

“I am happy with what the president said in SONA. The issue is bigger than just tourism. It is about the economy and tourism is part of the country’s economic recovery plan. Our industry we will be able to contribute to the recovery process as obstacles are removed.”

Ramaphosa announced that the special Covid-19 Unemployment Insurance Fund Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) benefit will be extended until 15 March 2021, but only for those sectors that have not been able to operate. Specifics around which sectors would be included would be announced at a later stage.

According to Ntshona, the tourism industry should fall within the TERS relief announced by Ramaphosa, because of the impact of the pandemic on the tourism industry. Many businesses have not been able to open or open fully yet, meaning there are still many employees not able to work.

The TERS relief benefit was introduced in March 2020 to allow businesses to continue paying salaries while their doors were closed during the lockdown.

Industry hopes for vaccination

Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, CEO of the Tourism Business Council of SA (TBCSA), which represents the private sector, agrees that the vaccination programme is a key factor for the tourism industry in order to bring a level of trust in SA as a destination among international travellers.

Regarding the e-visa announcement, Tshivhengwa says it was already mentioned in SONA 2019.

“Two years down the line we should have been ready with it by now. We were told pilot programmes were done, but that is not sufficient and up to now it has been talk only. We should get e-visas done as part of the tourism recovery. We are already behind what the rest of the world is doing. E-visas should be prioritised, and the process moved faster,” he said.

“If we still think we can stick with the e-visa technology spoken of two years ago, then we are behind. We must look at what the world is looking for and how to synchronise the vaccine in the visa system.”

As for the TERS announcement, Tshivhengwa says the TBCSA has been advocating for this through Nedlac and is happy that Ramaphosa acknowledged how much the tourism industry has been affected by the pandemic.

“Tourism operations were hampered by the liquor bans and curfews. These also impacted the conference industry on top of the impact of restrictions on numbers of people allowed.”

In the view of Tshivhengwa, the speed of the overhaul of the Government Guarantee Loan Scheme needs to be increased.

“When tourism businesses are considered for the scheme, they should be looked at differently as tourism recovery is not going to be in the short term, but rather over the medium to long term. We need certain rules to apply to our industry when tourism industries apply for these loans,” he said.

Decimated

Enver Duminy, CEO of Cape Town Tourism, was thrilled to hear about the extension of TERS payments.

“We wait to hear about the conditions of this extension and the sectors to be included, but we sincerely hope that tourism will be part of it. It is no secret that tourism businesses have suffered greatly during this last year and this will come as a relief to many,” he said.

“We also welcome the announcement about the plans to reform the visa and immigration policies. Ease of travel to our country will be of massive importance as we try to rebuild our once thriving tourism industry over the next few months and years.”

He too points out that South Africa will be heavily reliant on a strong vaccination programme.

“Our once thriving tourism industry has practically been decimated as a result of Covid-19 and the very strict lockdown regulations that have come into play over the last year. We desperately need more support from government to ensure that the industry survives. Feedback from our member businesses is very sobering at this point, with many of them indicating that the adjusted lockdown Level 3 regulations have really taken a toll on any form of recovery.”

Source: Fin24

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NEWS | CRITICAL SKILLS SURVEY EXTENDED AHEAD OF RELEASE OF CRITICAL SKILLS LIST BY DHA

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The list forms part of a drive to attract critically deemed skills to underpin efforts to regenerate the economy. In support of this important process, Xpatweb is extending its Critical Skills Survey until 1 March 2021 to give industry stakeholders an opportunity to participate in the upcoming immigration change in South Africa.

“Xpatweb’s Critical Skills Survey takes place annually and has established itself as an important way of measuring the skills needed in the economy. We were honoured to be asked to present our cumulative findings to the Departments of Home Affairs and Higher Education and Training late last year, and so contribute to the draft list that will be released for public comment,” says Marisa Jacobs, Director at Xpatweb.

“We will be making the research, which is currently in the field and with over 200 participants, available to the Government as part of our comment on the draft list.

“Keeping the survey open for a further two weeks will give industry players a better chance to make their skills needs known.”

Global Competition for In-Demand Skills

In today’s sophisticated and highly competitive economies, countries are competing for skills to help them stay abreast of fast-moving technologies and rapidly changing business models. A growing number of countries are using their immigration policies to attract these skills to their shores.

For example, Britain recently announced favourable visa conditions for much-needed healthcare workers, and Mauritius has introduced a special fast track for investment professionals as it cements its position as Africa’s financial hub.

In addition, multinationals operating in various geographical areas need to be able to expedite the transfer of skilled individuals to their subsidiaries as needed. Accordingly, the implementation of skills transfer plans have become vital due to Covid-19 greatly inhibiting the mobility of foreign skilled workers, thus ensuring locals receive necessary training on these particular skills.

Thus far, this year’s Xpatweb Critical Skills Survey shows that occupations in the Engineering and ICT sectors remain most in demand, followed by occupations such as Foreign Language Speakers, a range of Artisans and C-Suite Executive-level Management.

“Attracting the skills we need is vital if we are to increase economic output and get the economy back on track,” Ms Jacobs says.

Last Chance to Make an Impact

“Government’s initiative to fine-tune our immigration system to make it easier for companies to attract the skilled people they need is admirable, and clearly the more data it has to work with, the more accurate the list will be. We’ve already had record participation in this year’s survey, which indicates how important an issue this is. We are urging companies to take advantage of the new closing date to make sure their voices are included in the process of compiling the final critical-skills list.”

Xpatweb’s Critical Skills Survey remains open until 1 March 2021 and can be accessed here.


AUTHOR
Marisa Jacobs
Marisa Jacobs
Director

NEWS | CHRO COMMUNITY CONVERSATION LEARNS WHICH SCARCE SKILLS ARE BEING IMPACTED BY COVID-19

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In this week’s CHRO Community Conversation, Xpatweb shared findings from their critical skills survey, which is helping to shape the national migration debate in South Africa.

Xpatweb MD Marisa Jacobs said, “The Xpatweb critical skills survey started five years ago to determine the extent of critical skills in SA and the role of foreign nationals in addressing these shortages.”

Last year, Xpatweb submitted a comprehensive response to the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) request for feedback on its Occupations in High Demand (OIHD) list.

“We presented our results to a panel of interdepartmental government representatives from the departments of Trade and Industry, Labour, Higher Education and Training, and Home Affairs. There was strong debate on the skills included and not included in the 2020 OIHD list,” said Marisa.

“With the involvement of Department of Higher Education and Training and the Department of Home Affairs, the Xpatweb 2020/2021 Critical Skills Survey results will reflect the needs of employers and ensure that we continue to compete globally for the acquisition of skills,” she explained.

The survey aims to address challenges that HR leader face when recruiting critical skills and can be used as a platform to lobby for a skill to be included in the critical skills list.

Skills transfer

A key takeaway from the 2019 survey is that 82 percent of organisations see succession planning as a business priority.

Moeketsi Seboko, immigration manager at Xpatweb, said, “The survey addresses challenges that HR leaders face in recruiting critical skills. Skills transfer is an important recruitment tool as skills are being brought here to develop South Africans.”

Mark Kensley, Exxaro’s Strategic Workforce Manager supported this approach. “We definitely need to transfer skills locally. In South Africa, there is also lots of imbalance in terms of gender and race. We need to identify the required skills and develop or engineer the talent that we want,” he said.

During the Community Conversation, Marisa revealed that the top 10 most difficult occupations to recruit in South Africa are:

  • Engineers
  • ICT specialists
  • Artisans
  • C-Suite executives
  • Senior financial executives
  • Healthcare professionals
  • Media and marketing specialists
  • Foreign language speakers
  • Science professionals
  • STEM teachers

According to Dylan Price, client engagement manager at Xpatweb, occupations on the critical skills list must fulfil three criteria, namely they must be in acute shortage and aligned to South Africa’s strategic priorities; require high-level skills or advanced qualifications; and require a long lead time to develop a domestic supply pipeline.

The Covid-19 effect

After the presentation, the floor was opened to the CHRO’s in attendance. Marlize Kriel, chief people officer at Hellman Worldwide Logistics, highlighted an interesting trend of ex-pats returning to South Africa due to the negative economic effects of Covid-19.

“As a consequence of the impact of Covid-19 on employment markets across the globe, we have noticed that a number of South Africans working abroad have lost their permanent employment and had to take up contract positions in more junior roles, and in some cases are considering returning to South Africa,” she said.

Xpatweb has also picked up changes in skills demand and supply due to Covid-19 as well. Marisa elaborated:

“Ex-pats have declined projects because of Covid-19, however there remains a continuous movement of South Africans abroad. In terms of skills shortages internationally, there are massive overlaps with South Africa’s critical skills list and that of the UK, particularly in healthcare, engineering and ICT can overlap those lists.”

As an example, she said that the UK is competing for nursing staff internationally and has issued visas for these roles. “We are going to see South African nurses, doctors and specialists being poached and we already have a shortage of those.”

Remote working revolution

Another interesting trend that HR leaders should keep on their radar is the evolution of the work-from-home concept.

“Remote working space destinations are also emerging on the immigration front. Mauritius has a one-year visa where people can live in Mauritius and contribute to its economy while being employed in another country,” Marisa explained.

Source: CHRO South Africa