The failing education system is creating a talent crisis that will only get worse as South Africa becomes a recipient of further foreign fixed investment. These are the findings of the Global Talent index, produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit and international executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles.
South Africa is at number 24 on the index, which includes 30 countries across the globe. Other emerging countries, such as Mexico and Thailand, score far higher. The United States, Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom are the top four countries in the world for developing and attracting talent.
The index took seven criteria into account and South Africa’s position varied. However, the country’s tertiary education and its inability to attract talent affected it most negatively.
Derick Boshard, senior partner at Heidrick & Struggles, said the quality of education is a serious concern. For compulsory schooling South Africa scores in the average range at 16 out of 30, but the index forecasts that South Africa will fall to 18th place within five years partly because of major strides in education by other countries, but also due to deteriorating education levels in the country.
While Thailand and Mexico are expected to move up the rankings dramatically, Boshard said South Africa is burdened with inadequately trained teachers and a lack of learners with higher-grade mathematics. With only 2% of learners leaving school with higher-grade maths, the effect on the quality of graduates from our universities and business schools has started to deteriorate.
“Studies have shown that learners who come to university with higher-grade maths and English have a far better chance of passing,” said Boshard.
South Africa currently ranks 27th on the index in terms of high quality tertiary education. Only Iran, Nigeria and Indonesia scored worse.
As far as attracting talent, or when asked the question, “why would anyone want to work there?”, South Africa came rock bottom.
The index considered issues such as the technical skills of the workforce and GDP per capita. Boshard said talent attracts talent and before foreigners moved to a country they would want to ensure they could learn more skills by working with other talented people in that country. As South Africa’s talent pool diminishes — both through educational issues and emigration — so it becomes less attractive to other skilled people.
The index did not take softer issues into account — such as lifestyle — when assessing the ability to attract talent. While lifestyle includes issues such as crime, it also takes into account the relatively high standard of living for skilled workers in South Africa and the moderate climate. However, you know there is a real crisis when a country like South Africa is unable to attract talent from the global pool and other African countries, such as Nigeria and Egypt, are seen as better talent destinations. The index expects South Africa to see a dramatic increase in foreign direct investment, moving from 12th place to fifth place.
Boshard said the index does not specify if this is short-term portfolio flows or long-term fixed capital, but if the latter South Africa will be facing a real crisis. “How will we spend the investment if we do not have the skills?” asked Boshard, adding that on a people level, the skilled workers in South Africa are under enormous pressure to perform because of the lack of broader skill sets. “There is tiredness among senior management in dealing with people who are not skilled to do what they are doing,” he said.
He said that, unlike other economies, South African businesses still need to retain a hierarchical environment to help executives to survive because flat structures require a high number of skilled people.
Boshard said what is happening is that those skilled workers in their twenties are being promoted too rapidly because of the vacuum of skills in organisations. “But they lack the wisdom of the working years and the ability to make good judgement calls.”
He said South Africa urgently needs to address the issue of education with better paid and better trained teachers and more emphasis on mathematics.