The depletion of the human resources pool in South Africa

Abstract

The brain drain has become one of the dominant realities within the South African economy. The official emigration statistics from South African sources inadvertently minimizes the seriousness of the threat, but emigration figures received from foreign countries are indicative of the size of the problem. Emigration, however, is not the only cause for the depletion of the human resource pool. Internal migration, pseudo-emigration and the influx of unskilled workers also negatively effect the composition of the human resource provision in the country. Murder, HIV/AIDS and related diseases severely impact industry and will increasingly contribute to the brain drain. A radical reduction of the skilled work force and a dramatic shift in the composition of the human resource pool towards unskilled labour negatively impact on industry and inhibits South Africa's ability to compete effectively in an increasingly global market.