Professional migrants rush to and from SA - report

Cape Town - While South Africa is among the top 30 countries professional migrants like to move to, it is also among the top 30 countries professional migrants are rushing from, according to a report by MoveHub.

MoveHub, a British company assisting people wanting to move abroad, analysed 180 000 move enquiries it had over the 2015/2016 financial year to determine the most popular countries for "professional migrants".

It defines professional migrants as people moving for work and either sponsored by their existing company or with a job offer in hand. They are moving for job opportunities and motivated by growing economies and better quality of life. They are mostly between 25 and 44 years of age.

France was found to be the most popular destination country, followed by the UK, US, Australia, Spain, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, the UAE and Germany.

South Africa is the 14th most popular destination country and beats Sweden (15th), Singapore (16th), The Netherlands (17th), Switzerland (18th), Thailand (19th) and Brazil (20th).

At the same time, South Africa had the 11th highest rate of professionals leaving over the last year. The UK had the highest rate of professionals leaving (mostly due to the weather), followed by France, Australia, the US, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, the UAE, Sweden and Germany.

MoveHub has seen a 14.94% increase in enquiries for international moves compared to the last financial year. It has found that 28.8% of professional migrants either have citizenship of the countries they are moving to, or are moving between certain areas where they usually do not require a visa, such as within the European Union (EU) or the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation region (Apec).

After professional migrants moving for their career, the next largest group are those that can get a visa through their job, either through a current (17.9%) or new employer (16.9%).

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"By looking at these professional migrants, in other words the global workforce, we can build a picture of how the world is changing and what countries are offering the best lifestyle, value for money, or job opportunities," states the report.

"The global nature of business has created a society which is far less rooted to its location and a new generation which sees distance as no impediment. While most nations still seem to opt for countries with a shared language, there are also many hundreds of people who have learnt a new language and moved to live in a new culture."

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