On 18 February, the Department of Home Affairs gazetted an invitation for public comment on the draft Critical Skills List that was compiled in 2020.

“It is crucial that employers who depend on internationally sourced talent provide prompt feedback,” says Marisa Jacobs, Managing Director at Xpatweb, a private firm that contributed data and expertise towards the list’s compilation. “This will ensure they are not denied business-critical skills that are scarce in South Africa.”

Interested parties have until 16h00 on 31 March 2021 to submit their comments in writing. So what should organisations be aware of?

What’s missing
According to Jacobs, several skills that did not make it onto the draft list might be cause for concern.

The first is corporate general manager. Multinationals and large corporates who wish to expand into Africa or globally often need C-suite executives with international experience. Inevitably, they recruit this expertise from countries with whom they wish to do business. So its exclusion may prove to be a strategic disadvantage.

Foreign language speakers were also missing from the list. South Africa’s thriving call centre industry is just one place where workers who speak their clients’ home language are essential to local companies growing their international business relationships.

Certain artisans are not mentioned. Although it may be argued that the country has an abundance of artisans, several highly specialised trades not on the list can only be sourced from outside our borders. Yet, more commonplace technical professions, like fitter and turner, found their way into the draft.

“I’m interested to see how local business will respond to these omissions,” says Jacobs.

Survey data
Jacobs’ comment is related to her company’s own Critical Skills Survey, through which employers indicated that the competencies mentioned above are indeed in high demand.

Xpatweb has hosted its independent survey annually for the past five years and was the only private sector firm invited to contribute to the development of the national Critical Skills List. This speaks to the quality of the data collected and the research methodology the company employs.

“It was an honour to work with the Department of Higher Education and Training, the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Labour in realising the ultimate goal of Xpatweb’s survey, which is to make a meaningful impact on the country’s economic growth,” says Jacobs.

Participation
Jacobs reports that the DHET has asked Xpatweb to collect a more detailed dataset from future Critical Skills Surveys. So its currently running survey asks more in-depth questions, like the specific role name, required experience and professional qualifications associated with each nominated skill.

She also suggests that because the survey has established itself as a trusted source of data and feeds into the national Critical Skills List, it benefits businesses who participate in it. “Our survey gives them early access to the list development process and ensures their needs are considered long before public comment is invited,” she says.

The 2021 Xpatweb Critical Skills Survey ends on 1 March and can be accessed through the company’s website.

ENDS 

MEDIA CONTACT: Rosa-Mari Le Roux, 060 995 6277, rosa-mari@thatpoint.co.za, www.atthatpoint.co.za

ABOUT Xpatweb:
HOLISTIC EXPATRIATE SOLUTIONS
The Xpatweb group has been in existence for over 15 years and includes over 100 professionals, including immigration specialists, mobility practitioners, tax practitioners, attorneys, and chartered accountants. They offer holistic, client-centric, and fully compliant expatriate and work visa solutions. Clients can expect an exceptional end-to-end service that starts with an initial technical meeting to discuss any past challenges, a recommended optimal solution, and the creation of a roadmap and protocol for service delivery. They also offer an on-premises immigration audit service to confirm expatriate employees hold legally obtained, valid visas, and that their duties align with their visa conditions. In addition, their unique online immigration tracking system helps you to easily manage and track expatriate assignees across the globe, is fully customisable and dashboard-driven, and provides a secure repository for storing assignees’ documents.

For more information on Xpatweb please visit:
Website:  http://www.xpatweb.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/work-permit-south-africa/
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/xpatweb/

In his State of the Nation Address, President Ramaphosa announced the imminent release of the highly anticipated updated Critical Skills list for public comment by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA).

The list forms part of a drive to attract critically deemed skills to underpin efforts to regenerate the economy. In support of this important process, Xpatweb is extending its Critical Skills Survey until 1 March 2021 to give industry stakeholders an opportunity to participate in the upcoming immigration change in South Africa.

“Xpatweb’s Critical Skills Survey takes place annually and has established itself as an important way of measuring the skills needed in the economy. We were honoured to be asked to present our cumulative findings to the Departments of Home Affairs and Higher Education and Training late last year, and so contribute to the draft list that will be released for public comment,” says Marisa Jacobs, Director at Xpatweb.

“We will be making the research, which is currently in the field and with over 200 participants, available to the Government as part of our comment on the draft list.

“Keeping the survey open for a further two weeks will give industry players a better chance to make their skills needs known.”

Global Competition for In-Demand Skills
In today’s sophisticated and highly competitive economies, countries are competing for skills to help them stay abreast of fast-moving technologies and rapidly changing business models. A growing number of countries are using their immigration policies to attract these skills to their shores.

For example, Britain recently announced favourable visa conditions for much-needed healthcare workers, and Mauritius has introduced a special fast track for investment professionals as it cements its position as Africa’s financial hub.

In addition, multinationals operating in various geographical areas need to be able to expedite the transfer of skilled individuals to their subsidiaries as needed. Accordingly, the implementation of skills transfer plans have become vital due to Covid-19 greatly inhibiting the mobility of foreign skilled workers, thus ensuring locals receive necessary training on these particular skills.

Thus far, this year’s Xpatweb Critical Skills Survey shows that occupations in the Engineering and ICT sectors remain most in demand, followed by occupations such as Foreign Language Speakers, a range of Artisans and C-Suite Executive-level Management.

“Attracting the skills we need is vital if we are to increase economic output and get the economy back on track,” Ms Jacobs says.

Last Chance to Make an Impact
“Government’s initiative to fine-tune our immigration system to make it easier for companies to attract the skilled people they need is admirable, and clearly the more data it has to work with, the more accurate the list will be.
We’ve already had record participation in this year’s survey, which indicates how important an issue this is. We are urging companies to take advantage of the new closing date to make sure their voices are included in the process of compiling the final critical-skills list.”

Xpatweb’s Critical Skills Survey remains open until 1 March 2021 and can be accessed here.

ENDS 
 
MEDIA CONTACT: Rosa-Mari Le Roux, 060 995 6277, rosa-mari@thatpoint.co.za, www.atthatpoint.co.za

ABOUT Xpatweb:
HOLISTIC EXPATRIATE SOLUTIONS
The Xpatweb group has been in existence for over 15 years and includes over 100 professionals, including immigration specialists, mobility practitioners, tax practitioners, attorneys, and chartered accountants. They offer holistic, client-centric, and fully compliant expatriate and work visa solutions. Clients can expect an exceptional end-to-end service that starts with an initial technical meeting to discuss any past challenges, a recommended optimal solution, and the creation of a roadmap and protocol for service delivery. They also offer an on-premises immigration audit service to confirm expatriate employees hold legally obtained, valid visas, and that their duties align with their visa conditions. In addition, their unique online immigration tracking system helps you to easily manage and track expatriate assignees across the globe, is fully customisable and dashboard-driven, and provides a secure repository for storing assignees’ documents.

For more information on Xpatweb please visit:
Website:  http://www.xpatweb.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/work-permit-south-africa/
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/xpatweb/

The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) has submitted its preliminary Critical Skills List to the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) for review.

“The list is publicly available from the DHET’s website and companies should start reviewing it in anticipation of a round of public commentary before it is finalised,” says Marisa Jacobs, Managing Director at Xpatweb.

Jacobs confirmed that Xpatweb’s own research was used as a refence of input for the DHET Occupations in High Demand (OHID) report and, subsequently, informed the preliminary Critical Skills List by the DHET.

Availability
The current Critical Skills List was published in 2014. Significant macroeconomic events have affected the country’s foreign skills demand since then, like the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the impact of COVID-19. This makes the new list vital to enabling the recruitment of emerging business-critical talent internationally to promote economic growth.

Jacobs anticipates that, with the recent publishing of the OIHD report from the same research base, the momentum of that work will carry forward to the finalisation of the new Critical Skills List.
“The new List is likely to be published in early 2021,” reports Jacobs.

Exclusions
Notably, several occupations on the current Critical Skills List have been excluded from the preliminary list. These include corporate general manager; risk assessor; certain ICT designations; electrical and chemical engineer; toolmaker; pressure welder; boilermaker; certain trades, such as millwright, pipefitter, double-coded welder and rigger; foreign language speaker; and business analyst.

This may concern employers who have difficulty sourcing these skills locally. Visas for foreign nationals listed on the Critical Skills List are typically processed two to six months faster. This puts companies who urgently need to replace scarce workers not on the List at a disadvantage.

“To make their needs heard, organisations must provide feedback proactively as the opportunity to comment becomes available,” says Jacobs. This will ensure the finalised list aligns with actual national business requirements.

Input
As the only private company invited to present its findings in an interdepartmental session to develop the OIHD, Xpatweb provided research from its own Critical Skills Survey, taken annually over the last five years. This research is also incorporated into the DHET’s preliminary Critical Skills List.

Jacobs believes Xpatweb’s participation can be attributed to the quality of its Survey data. “Of the 32 occupations listed in our report, 24 were already included in the preliminary List, so there was a significant complementary overlap in the research” she says.

The Survey provides a channel for organisations to pre-emptively participate in initiatives like the development of the national Critical Skills List. “Instead of waiting for the public comment process, they can contribute to the early stages of policy formulation,” says Jacobs.

Conclusion
Jacobs urges organisations to become active players in the final Critical Skills List. “This will help ease immigration constraints that may limit access to occupations essential to economic growth,” she says.

She also commends the DHET and DHA for their outstanding work and for openly engaging the private sector.

ENDS

MEDIA CONTACT: Rosa-Mari Le Roux, 060 995 6277, rosa-mari@thatpoint.co.za, www.atthatpoint.co.za

ABOUT Xpatweb:
HOLISTIC EXPATRIATE SOLUTIONS
The Xpatweb group has been in existence for over 15 years and includes over 100 professionals, including immigration specialists, mobility practitioners, tax practitioners, attorneys, and chartered accountants. They offer holistic, client-centric, and fully compliant expatriate and work visa solutions. Clients can expect an exceptional end-to-end service that starts with an initial technical meeting to discuss any past challenges, a recommended optimal solution, and the creation of a roadmap and protocol for service delivery. They also offer an on-premises immigration audit service to confirm expatriate employees hold legally obtained, valid visas, and that their duties align with their visa conditions. In addition, their unique online immigration tracking system helps you to easily manage and track expatriate assignees across the globe, is fully customisable and dashboard-driven, and provides a secure repository for storing assignees’ documents.

For more information on Xpatweb please visit:
Website:  http://www.xpatweb.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/work-permit-south-africa/
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/xpatweb/

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