HUMAN RESOURCES
Kudos for green paper on building skills pool, but red tape strangles proposals
Change of attitude to allow the possibility that skills should be actively recruited in a global market is welcome, write Ann Bernstein and Sandy Johnston
Drastically expanding the pool of skills available to the economy is an essential precondition to finding a way out of the cycle of unemployment, poverty and inequality undermining SA’s future. The most important way of achieving this is to equip South Africans with a solid foundation of knowledge and skills, and the ability to use them productively. The government is failing on too many fronts in this arena: from basic education to mismanaging funding for university and college education. The second way is to compensate for the skills shortage by recruiting skilled people abroad. Recognition of the need for foreign skills to help achieve faster and more inclusive growth has been part of government thinking for well over a decade and repeated commitments have been made to increase the supply. The latest green paper on managing international migration acknowledges that far too little has been achieved to attract foreign skills to SA. It restates the need for these skills and suggests...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.