Accountants coming back to SA

Cape Town - Worries about job security in the financial markets in the UK are prompting a reverse brain drain of accountants back to South Africa, according to Hilton Saven, chairperson of Mazars Moores Rowland, a tax audit and advisory firm.

"We are receiving an increasing flow of applications from South African accountants particularly in the United Kingdom," Saven said on Wednesday. "These are being prompted by concerns over job security in financial services and corporate finance markets.

"Mazars Moores Rowland is also receiving an increasing flow of applications from accountants in various parts of Africa. These are from professionals who would have normally sought to further their careers through opportunities in the UK and Europe."

Saven said the increasing difficulty in obtaining positions in the UK, Europe and the US could have a positive impact on the shortage of accountants in South Africa.

He also says his company is seeing a marked cut in secondments of its staff to Mazars offices in the UK, Europe and the US and an upturn in secondment opportunities in Asia.

"These secondments within our international partnership provide young professionals with invaluable experience at an early stage of their careers," he said. "All of our current partners went through the secondment process. The UK and US secondment schedules for 2009 have both been severely reduced.

"On the other hand, opportunities in Asia are increasing, notably because of a longstanding shortage of skills in China.

"We've just seconded people to Japan and China and are looking to make further secondments to China, particularly to Beijing and Shanghai."

- I-Net Bridge