Somalilandsun- Research from Robert Walters has found that salaries across Africa will increase by 12-16% on average in 2017 despite difficult economic climate across the continent.
Nic Sephton-Poultney, Robert Walters Country Manager – Africa comments;
“We expect the economic challenges affecting many countries in Africa to continue while commodity prices remain low. However, we are confident that suitably qualified and experienced local professionals will be in high demand across all sectors and in a strong position to negotiate significantly higher salaries.”
With the outlook for the natural resources sector decidedly uncertain, governments focused on industry diversification in 2016. This will continue to drive recruitment throughout 2017. Companies will also seek experienced local talent in response to nationalisation programmes and the need for succession planning.
The skills shortages faced in 2016 may be slightly alleviated in 2017 as expatriates, who have been transferring skills to locals over the past few years, begin to hand over to their local successors. The focus on hiring skilled local professionals in 2016 will continue in 2017 across the continent.
Western-educated nationals with international experience will be highly sought after in 2017 as organisations work towards establishing and strengthening their core business functions.
The number of skilled nationals who have moved abroad over the last few years has alarmed some governments and they are deploying strategies to attract them back. These are proving effective in countries such as Mauritius, where the government is using tax cuts to attract jobseekers.
Nic Sephton-Poultney continues:
“Nationalisation programmes were implemented in a number of countries during 2016, which added to the already challenging conditions. Many organisations found it harder to hire the people they needed due to increased demands for local talent and subsequent candidate shortages.”
“We anticipate increased demand for senior management level professionals as companies grow their finance functions to attract investors amid low foreign currency flow.”
“When recruiting local senior professionals, we advise hiring managers to be flexible and to consider hiring less experienced but high potential individuals whose skills can be developed ‘on the job’.”
“Over the short to medium term, we expect that hiring managers will continue to recruit expatriates who are keen to share their experience and expertise with local professionals. Employers recognise that they need to focus on succession planning for African talent, and knowledge sharing from expatriates will be part of this strategy.”
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Robert Walters is one of the world’s leading specialist professional recruitment consultancies and focuses on placing high calibre professionals into permanent, contract and temporary positions at all levels of seniority. The Africa business recruits across accountancy and finance, senior management, engineering, supply chain, construction, resources, sales and marketing, HR and IT. Established in 1985, the Group has built a global presence spanning 27 countries.
For more details visit https://www.robertwalters.com/
