Today's Labour News

BusinessLive reports that JSE-listed companies have lamented their struggle to retain technical expertise in their domestic operations amid a skills exodus from SA.

Anthony Phillips, chair of packaging and recycling group Mpact, indicated in the group’s latest annual report that the company had experienced a loss of key skills and institutional knowledge due to emigration and employees seeking better prospects elsewhere. The report “noted an increase in this trend in the past year,” but maintained that incentive programmes were in place to retain key staff. “We maintain a focus on succession planning at Mpact to ensure we have an identified pipeline of future leaders, and that we nurture these candidates to ensure that they develop the requisite skills and remain with us for the long term,” Phillips indicated. Reforms to the visa regime are one of the priority areas President Cyril Ramaphosa targeted to boost economic growth, job creation, promote tourism and attract skills. The recent gazetting of new skilled work visa regulations and SA visa reforms is expected to make it easier and faster for SA to attract the skilled foreign workers it urgently needs. However, when it comes to retaining local talent, the jury is still out on how SA’s skills emigration can be arrested, with the onus resting on companies to incentivise critically skilled employees. To gain control of the issue, infrastructure development and construction materials group Raubex said it was engaging with key personnel and implementing a long-term retention scheme for those with critical skills. Barloworld also signalled the loss of scarce technical and digital skills as a risk to sustainable growth. Nampak said it was continually undertaking skills development and deployment amid increased competition.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Michelle Gumede at BusinessLive

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