A survey in South Africa shows more than half of graduates are considering moving to another country because of few opportunities at home. Business Unity South Africa, which represents the private sector, says they are seeing the lowest levels of confidence in the country’s future since World War II.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The survey was conducted by the Social Research Foundation which calls itself a start-up think tank. Its director Frans Cronje dismissed social media criticism, which said it is funded by the main opposition Democratic Alliance Party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cronje says they are privately funded and not affiliated with any organization. He says his pollsters surveyed just over 3,000 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOn the question of emigration, what it identifies is that roughly a quarter of adult South Africans are considering emigration and that figure rises pretty steeply as you go to the top echelons of the skills base,” he said. \u201cSo, university graduates figure comes in at around 50 percent and also top earners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cronje says the emigration figures are in line with other public opinion research the foundation has recently conducted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd this is all very consistent with broader public opinion based on South Africa, which shows that in response to tough economic circumstances and an increasingly troubling outlook towards the political future of the country, levels of concern about the long-term future have hit rates that I haven\u2019t seen in 20 years of doing this stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joshua Jacobs has been looking for a job since graduating from college last year. He is considering emigrating to Vietnam or South Korea to teach English, even though it is not what he studied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s quite dire at the moment. It doesn\u2019t look like there\u2019s an opportunity,\u201d said Jacobs. \u201dI have a few friends who have already gone over and, based on what they are experiencing, it seems like way more viable than being here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jacobs says he studied for three years and graduated with a degree in human resources management last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been looking more or less in my field, but no luck there,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is a weird position that I\u2019m in. Because when I started studying, the market was a bit better in terms of HR, whereas now it doesn\u2019t seem like there\u2019s the same opportunities. The ones that there are, the pay has decreased and the experience needed has now increased.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bonang Mohale, president of Business Unity South Africa, says he thinks it\u2019s regrettable when a country cannot hold onto the future workers in whom it\u2019s invested so much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He asks, what will happen if graduates leave in droves?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe economy is already on its knees. It will further exacerbate the condition.\u201d
The Social Research Foundation is planning follow-up research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Source: Voice of America<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"