Survey provides key insight into South Africa’s graduate professionals

PPS, the specialist South African financial services provider to graduate professionals, recently published the results of a survey that tracks confidence levels of more than 4 000 of South Africa’s graduate professionals on a variety of issues.

As part of the survey, the respondents – who had an average age of 43 – were asked a number of questions to assess their confidence levels on issues such as emigration, crime, healthcare, investment markets and opportunities available to them in their chosen professions.

According to Gerhard Joubert, head of group marketing and stakeholder relations at PPS, the survey – to be conducted on a quarterly basis to measure changes in confidence levels among graduate professionals – is an important way to measure changing opinion on some key issues.

“Understanding the mindset of graduate professionals on these topics is crucial, as it is these individuals who in many ways are the driving force behind the development of the economy,” he says.

“They also tend to be thought leaders on a variety of fronts, and thus the importance of tracking their level of confidence in South Africa will present valuable findings.”

The 2011 first quarter results revealed the majority of graduate professionals surveyed remain confident about staying in South Africa, with an average confidence level of 84% recorded.

Joubert says this result is extremely positive: “Graduate professionals occupy key occupations such as accountancy, engineering, medicine and law, many of which have a skills shortage, so it is very significant to see these people are confident of remaining in South Africa.”

He says a number of factors may have contributed to the result, including South Africa’s economy weathering the global financial crisis, its inclusion in the Brazil-Russia-India-China group of nations, the relatively stable political climate, and the successful hosting of the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup.

“We also mustn’t forget that many emigrants look toward Europe, and specifically the United Kingdom, when they leave. However, the current turmoil in European countries, in light of the sovereign debt crises, shows a move is not always greener. In fact, the opposite might be true,” adds Joubert.

“Furthermore, we tend to forget people in first-world countries also have concerns about issues like unemployment, health and education.”

When asked about the opportunities available to practitioners working within their specific profession over the next 12 months, the survey revealed an overall confidence level of 77%.

“This is a very positive outcome”, says Joubert, “and we are happy to see that the majority of skilled professionals see opportunities in their occupations in South Africa. There are many reasons that could account for this, one of which ironically may be that there are more opportunities in South Africa as a result of skills shortages.”

He says that while the index shows the majority of South African professionals remain confident on issues within their control, this is not the case on external factors such as crime, healthcare, education and unemployment.

Respondents displayed a worrying 45% confidence level that the crime situation will improve over the next five years.

“Crime recorded the lowest confidence level in the index. There is no doubt that crime is one of the biggest concerns for South Africans and it is always an emotive issue. However, the government is making strides to deal with this, but it may take some time to change people’s perceptions,” says Joubert.

Unemployment was also a massive concern, with confidence levels only marginally higher at 46%.

Joubert says this response seems reasonable, given recent employment statistics that showed the unemployment rate rose to 25% in the first quarter of 2011 from 24% in the final three months of last year.

Confidence in the standard of education over the next five years scored 50%. “This is also a poor result, as education is one of the biggest priorities for a developing country,” says Joubert. “The standard of our top schools is excellent, but we also have to ensure that we uplift the quality of schooling for the majority of citizens to ensure that everybody gets a fair and equal education.”

The future of the healthcare system over the next five years scored a confidence level of 50%. Joubert says this may be because people are concerned about the implementation of the National Health Insurance and the effect, they fear, its implementation may have on the medical scheme industry.

“Recent reports have suggested that healthcare costs are also continuing to spiral, which may impact on the consumer and their ability to pay for their own medical care,” he adds.

From the results of the survey, PPS says graduate professionals are demonstrating a keen commitment to South Africa, despite noting concerns about crime levels, health, education and unemployment.

“We continue to suffer from an acute skills shortage in South Africa, particularly among a number of skilled professions such as medicine, accountancy and engineering,” says Joubert.

“It is important that the concerns of all South Africans, not just graduate professionals, are taken into account, and efforts are made to deal with these issues to keep our current skills and to attract expats back to the country.”

Candice Hellriegel