Not only birds migrate

A friend of mine recently returned from Egypt and I was reminded of sourcing efforts in North Africa. HP have led the way here with some work in French speaking countries, however the African market as a whole still has some way to go.

Of course South Africa is by far the largest opportunity, with English widely spoken and a good measure of investment already made in infrastructure. However, without wishing to appear un-diplomatic, it is true that service standards are only now recovering from the era of affirmative action. I am all for the move to ensure the largest ethinic population represents the largest pool of workforce, however it is an economic fact that imposing this rule has weakened quality in the short term. How delightful it is therefore to see standards rising sharply and excellent prospects for this market.

One of the drains on South African resource will be economic migration, a situation that is also occuring in Eastern Europe. A South African in London ( or Glasgow as I heard recently ) will be considerably more expensive than the same skilled resource in-country. Of course the ease of such migration is greatly facilitated by current immigration law as is true with india, whereas China and Brazil would both find the process more arduous.

For IT staff HSMP should provide a suitable route for the 30% - 50% that is often found on-shore in sourcing programmes. The cost debate arises where such migration does not require corporate sponsorship.

Time will tell if South African standards in process and English are able to meet international demand, and where they are - whether such people will migrate anyway.