Recruitment of Foreigners

Having recently returned from Germany, it was interesting to find that companies there are also grappling with the same issues as companies all over the globe are viz. finding talent and skills for jobs. Economic prospects look good and most companies name the unavailability of talent as the most serious obstacle in ensuring growth. Recruiters are well aware of this and are becoming more and more innovative in sourcing the right person for a vacant position. E-recruitment and job fairs have been the norm for some years, but now there is another stream of passive candidates that are found on social networking sites. The popularity of MySpace and FaceBook is a recruiters pot of gold and any recruiter not utilizing Web2 technology will soon find themselves out of work.

What fascinated me personally is the huge discrepancies in earnings from continent to continent. Fairly well paid jobs in Germany are amongst the worst paid in South Africa. A German rubbish removal worker employed by the city of Berlin earns Euro 3250 per month( STERN 29.2007 ), a stark contrast to the ZAR that an equivalent South African earns. A German teacher earns Euro 3579, a person packing furniture Euro 2200, a sanitation worker Euro 2000 and a waiter Euro 2300. Much higher paid are Photographers, Marketing managers and Firemen. How then can South Africa tempt skilled employees to its shores? We can argue that the cost of living is not so high in ZA and our beautiful country and sunny climate compensates for the decrease in earnings. Let’s wake up and smell the roses. Money does talk and considering our crime rate, who wants to earn less, risk their lives in exchange for guaranteed sunshine and cheaper meat prices?

If South African companies are to grow and obtain necessary skills they need to ensure growth, they will have to offer attractive packages, including share options and guarantee personal safety.

The same scenario applies to government positions. We are sitting with hundreds of vacancies on governmental and municipal levels, the state has declared that they will grant 38 500 visa’s to foreigners to fill these vacancies, yet no one is biting. Our doors aren’t being pushed open by 1000’s of foreigners keen to take these positions. The same applies to the international drive to recruit Maths and Science teachers.

Our intentions are good, we are aware of the future, we have excellent policies and legislation that protect the workforce, but unless we “ Show the Money” our recruitment of foreigners will fail.