The skills shortage in the ICT industry is felt most acutely in areas outside of the major financial centres. The Eastern Cape, in particular, is a victim of the 'brain drain' phenomenon and must harness a variety of strategies to dissuade trained people from moving to larger metros such as Johannesburg.
This is according to Business Connexion's Eastern Cape regional chief executive, Gert Cronj'e, who says that when it comes to attracting skilled people, money talks. Keeping employees in the Eastern Cape thus requires a different set of incentives, many of which are age-specific.
"Younger people tend to chase salaries and growth opportunities, whereas more mature employees are concerned about lifestyle. If young people feel unchallenged, they will leave for places that are perceived to be more competitive, whereas the mature workforce tends to place a higher value on stability and is reluctant to give up the coastal lifestyle," he says.
Cronj'e says that this has led to an excess of recent graduates working in Johannesburg and other large metros, which may be unhealthy for the industry. "A balance of younger and older people is ideal in this industry, which places high value on both innovation and experience," he says.
The impact of skilled people leaving for larger metros is significant. Not only does it weaken the performance of local businesses, but also that of rural business and local authorities. As such, it is the responsibility of both the public and private sectors to ensure that local infrastructures are supportive of talented individuals who wish to make a career in and around the areas in which they grew up or were educated.
Cronj'e says that organisations should leverage off their partnerships with local tertiary institutions and businesses. He believes that collaboration between businesses and tertiary institutions in placing interns is mutually beneficial and creates a career infrastructure that appeals to graduates and facilitates their development.
He adds that young people are less inclined to leave for large metros when given challenging projects and a clearly defined career path. One means of mapping the future of an employee is through internships, which the Joint Initiative of Priority Skills Acquisition (Jipsa) has identified as an important tool in the struggle to alleviate the nationwide skills shortage.
Business Connexion's 2007 internship programme is a case in point: of the 12 graduates who started the programme in the Eastern Cape, only two have left for opportunities in Johannesburg and overseas. Cronj'e attributes the success of the programme in the Eastern Cape to its emphasis on providing a structured path for each intern. "Each intern had a development action plan and was obliged to report to a central programme manager on highlights and challenges encountered on the job," he concludes.
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