New data from CareerJunction highlights that highly experienced and qualified professionals are more willing to relocate out of South Africa as of the end of 2023.

The data was published in CareerJunction’s latest employment insights report for December 2023, which offers an in-depth analysis of the employment market in South Africa.

The data for the report was gathered from 5,000 of the country’s largest recruiters, agencies, and employers who advertise job positions on the CareerJunction portal.

Interestingly, the report focused on labour mobility in the country. According to the data, almost seven out of 10 South African job seekers (69%) are willing to relocate for a new job, indicating high mobility within the labour force.

“Looking at job seekers who generally state they are open to relocating for a job, it is evident that with more work experience, the willingness to relocate internationally increases, while the willingness to relocate within South Africa decreases,” it said.

Years of experience	Relocate within SA	Relocate internationally
0	70%	30%
0 to 2	66%	34%
3 to 5	61%	39%
10+	55%	45%

The report added that when looking at job seekers who state they are open to relocating, there is a correlation between qualifications and job seekers’ willingness to relocate

Similar to the years of experience, higher qualified job seekers are more willing to move internationally for a job.

“Looking at these trends where highly qualified and experienced job seekers are more inclined to move abroad speaks to the brain drain of local talent in South Africa,” said CareerJunction.

South Africa’s brain drain is a major concern

Speaking at a roundtable on South Africa’s brain drain in June of this year, Simonetta Guiricich from payroll services group Playroll said South Africa faces a mass exodus of talent over the coming years.

This comes as the country has already lost close to a million people to countries like the UK, Australia, the USA, New Zealand and Canada.

South Africa does not track emigrants. However, a recent report from the UN showed that 914,901 South Africans were living abroad, a significant jump from the 786,554 recorded in 2015.

The United Kingdom has the largest South African diaspora, with nearly 250,000 people listing South Africa as their country of birth, followed by Australia, the USA and New Zealand.

However, the biggest concern among business leaders right now is that young, skilled people are the ones packing their bags to go.

“Of particular concern for South Africa is the steady and increasing number of departures by young, highly skilled individuals,” Guiricich said.

“Projections indicate that the country could lose up to half of its university graduates (to emigration) in the coming years.”

This concern was echoed in CareerJuinction’s report, which showed Job seekers aged 21 to 30 years show the highest mobility, where 3 out of 4 people are willing to relocate for a job.

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