Executive search firms and others in the recruitment game have been picking up on a dynamic trend that, while biting in 2023, is jumping up and down and demanding immediate attention in 2024. It is the inclination of North American companies to seek out talented individuals from South Africa to fill the key staffing gaps on their boards and in their teams, is the word from BossJansen Executive Search and Executive Placements.
Those executives heading up job boards have also been picking up on the trend, with the job offers extending across the likes of sales and call centre agents; brand executives; insurance claims specialists; foremen and all kinds of artisans; technical application specialists; finance services/banking jobs; and various engineering positions.
The reasons backing this hiring trajectory range from the fluency of our English and a cultural compatibility that helps to avoid language-related misunderstandings; the extent to which we are entrepreneurially minded and well educated, with a high unemployment rate in our home country; the possibility of hiring excellent calibre individuals for a lower potential salary range than someone in the United States or Canada would require, especially if this is a South African who can set themselves up remotely from South Africa; and the fact that servicing clients across Europe (all day), the US/Canada (in the afternoon), or even Australia (first thing in the morning) is generally seamless from South Africa.
While South Africans are renowned for their work ethic, those with enviable skills and qualifications may unfortunately not be able to find a suitable position in the job market at home because of societal-levelling policies such as B-BBEE.
Working remotely for a US company
Once found to be competent from a qualifications and skills perspective, the South African candidate will be required to set themselves up with the following considerations top of mind:
• remaining forever cognisant of the time difference;
• maintaining a dedicated and distraction-free workspace;
• putting uncapped fibre in place, for best-in-class digital communications; and
• setting boundaries related to after-hours hobbies, sport, and family time.
Further, while it is theoretically feasible to work for a US company remotely from anywhere in the world, it is important that the hiring company meets all the legal requirements of taking you on board. See more, here.
Working for a US company with a regional office in South Africa
Another alternative is to apply for a position at one of 600 North American companies that now have regional (i.e. African) offices located in South Africa. If you are skilled, senior, and would prefer to keep your search confidential (say, from the company at which you are currently employed), it is generally a good idea to make enquiries as to the global employment opportunities that an executive search firm may have on their books.
It goes without saying that these hiring companies will benefit from lower labour costs than they would have back home (as a result of the exchange rate), while those they hire in much-sought-after roles could stand to earn more than they could for a South African company.
Immigrating to the US/Canada
A third option, of course, involves a North American company seeking a South African staff member who is prepared to immigrate to the United States or Canada. A blog on Wise.com advises that employment is the fastest and easiest way to gain a Green Card and make the move, especially if the company you will be working for when you arrive makes all the legal arrangements and pays all the relocation costs on your behalf.
Just be sure to do your research as to the salary you will require to support your family on the level you are accustomed to, taking into account that a meal at an inexpensive restaurant in the US/Canada will set you back about R375 to R400 (around US$20) per person, versus approximately R125 (under US$7) per person in South Africa.
Whichever of the above-mentioned paths you take to end up employed by an American or Canadian company, the way in which South Africans are viewed by these hiring companies generally remains rose-tinted – because we’re known to be a skilled, qualified, and hard-working nationality.
In return, for those battling to find suitable employment with a South African company, your new employer stands to offer you better wages and a higher standard of living, more travel opportunities (as you’ll probably be expected to visit that US/Canada head office at least biannually), and a resumé that catches your next potential employer’s eye and impresses beyond the pale: “You’ve worked for Amazon/Google/Microsoft?” Yes, indeed!
