Skilled Human Resource Management in Africa - Essay Example

Running Head: Skilled Human Resource Management In Africa Brain Drain Solution By _______________________ The serious prevailing issue with in the modern world after being globalize is perhaps related to the human resource, the modern world is a place for people who have got the high quality skills to serve the world whether individually or by helping an organization grow. The outcome is that the individuals with high mental caliber get a chance to show their talent in a place which they do not actually belong to, but because of an opportunity they avail it and serve at a place which has no concern with their origin in terms of economy. The topic of our discussion is brain drainage from the continent that is not yet established and due to such actions of individuals they tend to loose many important resources that could have been utilized in the betterment of their economic position. The world is currently facing diversion in terms of human resources from one part of the world to the other, it is fair to say that educated people do not want to stay in their country until and unless their country is fully supporting them and providing them with every basic of life, countries like America and England do not have a drainage problem due to many reasons which are also related to their currency value, however Africa is facing a serious problem as it cannot afford its skillful people to leave it which is happening. Almost every country is having a class that is willing to stay in it and work with dedication, but such organizations are providing its employees with something wonderful and they are motivated to work for the same without thinking about any struggle to earn more. As early as the 1500s, the African slave trade had already brought thousands of Africans to the new world. In what the mid period, Africans were exported from their homelands to the America to develop and sustain plantation agriculture and to work the mines of South America in a new and unfamiliar environment, the Africans were indentured for specified periods, but as the economic advantages of their forced labor became clearer, the period of serving soon came to be expanded to the duration of their lives. The Africans brought not only their labor, but also skills and knowledge in areas useful to the white colonizers. In Africa, the captives had been farmers, builders, artisans, craftsmen, healers, and even the rulers. For many of the African immigrants, the journey to the United States involves a global migratory pattern, leaving because of Africa's worsening economic and political problems, or to pursue education, or to join up with family members, these immigrants typically reach the United States in stepwise fashion, sometimes living in several other countries before managing to secure a visa for their ultimate destination in the United States. Relative to other immigrant population groups such as Hispanics or Asians, the African immigrants have a low rate of naturalization. Many consider themselves as visitors in United States, intending to return home when economic and political conditions improve. Africa's brain drain is taking place as the continent stands at the crisis of economic development and Africans appeal for the establishment of democratic institutions and political accountability. Africa's dilemma starts from the fact that the colonial and post-colonial policies of economic, political, and cultural development have been framed from a Euro American perspective that offers little or no relevance to the needs of the people on the continent. For instance, the rapid expansion in secondary and postsecondary education since 1945, although essential for economic and cultural development, was undertaken without any assessment of how school leavers would be incorporated into the labor market. The inability of the labor market to absorb school leavers has resulted in massive underemployment and unemployment. Unable to find jobs, both skilled and unskilled workers are compelled to search for jobs in Western countries. In Africa's current situation it is very important for the continent to adopt measures to retain its best and brightest. Surprisingly, it has been estimated recently that people who have got the potential of working at the managerial level and also have technical skills to serve within Africa are 40% working outside African continent. It has been happening from the past 60 years, the high quality human resources have been going out of the Africa leaving it for people who cannot properly manage it. Today, almost 33 million people in America are Africans comprising 13% of the total American population. The continent faces massive social, economic, and political problems. For Africa, the past three centuries have been marked by broken dreams and unmet needs. The road to economic and political stability in post-independence Africa has been a very difficult one. Problems are at the upward inclined in the areas of inadequate food production, destruction of the network caused by deforestation, civil conflict, rebellious nature, dictatorships, and political corruption. Corruption involves the whole population and operates according to vertical relations of inequality. It is deadly to the macro-development of Africa and makes rational economic activity almost impossible. The principal beneficiaries of this migration and the brain drain of Africa's talents are professionals and those with postsecondary education or marketable skills. The harsh reality is that the labor markets and economies of Africa have not been able to expand to absorb and sustain college graduates in gainful employment. A class has emerged whose needs are yet to be met at home. Education has created hopes and aspirations, opening up views of economic and cultural opportunities, the fulfillment of which Africans pursue vigorously in the West because blocked economic and industrial development prevents the achievement of even moderate increases in the standard of living at home. According to Peil (1995): "Research on African emigration to Great Britain and North America shows that some African countries, Ghana and Nigeria particularly, have become major exporters of educated people and trained artisans to other countries. The exodus of educated Ghanaians has been substantial since independence in 1957. The exact number of those who have left is not known since African countries do not keep adequate data on emigration. But estimates suggest that the Canadian city of Toronto alone has over twenty thousand Ghanaians working in various professional and non-professional occupations"(Arthur 24: 2000). The African brain drain to the West, as indicated earlier, takes the form of a migration in stages, which first takes the migrant to another African country or to destinations where it is relatively easy to obtain papers and where work is plentiful. The first stage of the migration process becomes part of a broader strategy aimed at improving one's standard of living in a given destination. Potential immigrants first travel to Saudi Arabia, Libya, Kuwait, Malaysia, Singapore, Brazil, the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe. After finding work and saving some money, the migrants then apply for admission to a university or college in the United States, pay their tuition for one academic year, and place sufficient funds in their bank accounts to qualify for a student visa, which later on makes so easy for them to stay, work and earn in United States and support their families or keep the money to them. It is quite clear that people do have willingness to earn a qualification, which could show their importance, however it is Africa, which is not providing them with the opportunity. For the majority of Africans who arrive in the United States to pursue educational goals, fields of study are carefully chosen to reflect areas of the U.S. labor market in need of qualified workers. There is little emphasis on the arts and humanities. Business administration and the sciences, especially computer science, engineering, and medicine, are preferred choices of study. Even those who arrive from Africa with baccalaureate degrees in the social sciences and the arts often switch to graduate programs in business administration, law, and computer science. The potential to earn higher wages in the United States compared to the wages received in Africa serves as a "pull" factor that attracts immigrants. Prospective immigrants are confident that no matter what the unemployment rate or existing immigration laws restricting employment of nonimmigrant visa holders, they will find employment, even if it is illegal, because the menial jobs most Americans will not perform are becoming more plentiful every year. The arising problems triggered the migration of the educated, the professional class, the civil servants, and those with relatives or other contacts abroad. Even unskilled workers began to throw their eyes to distant lands in search of better economic opportunities. The brain drain in Africa had commenced. Beginning more than sixty years ago, this brain drain is still evolving as thousands of Africa's best and brightest, including unskilled workers, seek economic advantages far away from home. The consequences of the brain drain have yet to be examined in detail, and policies to ameliorate the problem have yet to be put in place by African governments. The perception of African governments is that although the brain drain has had harmful consequences in the process of national development, eventually the governments stand to gain when reverse migration occurs or nationals abroad send remittances home. These remittances are playing a vital role in business formation and entrepreneurial activities among returnees or in their absence, among their family members or business associates. Three out of every five immigrants in the survey indicated that they are in the process of setting up a business back home or have already set one up. One immigrant said, "How can one not take advantage of the strong dollar at home in Africa to set up a small business enterprise There is money to be made in Africa's expanding economies. There is a high demand for Western consumer goods, and some of us are going to establish businesses to meet that demand before American retail giants like Wal-Mart go there to dominate the retail market". Immigrant economic culture in the United States is underpinned by the recognition that material prosperity, no matter how it is measured, assumes meaning only in terms of the fulfillment of specific economic goals. Most African immigrants structure their economic decision-making by focusing on the long-term economic potential of their homelands. Participation in the economic development of their countries of origin is paramount. The opportunity to be in America and the migratory process are tools that facilitate the accomplishment of economic goals. And for the immigrants, America provides ample opportunities for the fulfillment of these goals. The degree of cultural, social, political, and economic integration into the daily activities of the host society has an influence in determining whether or not African immigrants decide to become naturalized citizens of the United States. Survey respondent's social class is measured by educational attainment, income, age, home ownership, and membership in professional associations, as it can be strongly related to the probability of naturalization. In the main, the African immigrants who classify themselves as middle and upper class tend to apply for naturalization more often than immigrants who are lower in social class. The probability of becoming a citizen also varies by income. Generally, higher-level income earners, those with household incomes in excess of $50,000, are more likely to file for citizenship than those whose combined family income is under $30,000. However, educational attainment levels also influence the naturalization process. Higher levels of education were found to be associated with a higher frequency of applying for citizenship. In the outcome of this entire discussion it has been identified that the consequences are having two shapes, one is favoring the Western world, which is causing the drain from Africa, and the other one is in the favor of Africa, which is bringing in a lot of foreign currency to the continent, also improving its economic conditions. Currently, if the Africa is willing to settle the problem, then it needs to have a proper infrastructure, a proper base, which is only possible if the continent gets wealth, it can take some further help from the World Bank and can boost its industrial zone, the Africa is yet having a lot of potential in it, only they need to work out on their base, a strengthen base can automatically make their structure stable. They can then attract their people back to home, of course there are limitations but yet, they can work on the plan. If not today then tomorrow the country would definitely get settled as its natives are working hard outside to earn some wealth and then invest it at home, but who would then be the customers As a business is a two-way reaction, for sure they can then rely on exporting as they already have got a strong "oil" background. At the present, Africa itself is considered as an obstacle, even the citizens and people want to support it but as they cannot find an opportunity within it, therefore they are obliged to live outside it and support it as they know that it is their identity, sooner Africa would feel a change and a rise in position and sooner the drainage would be blocked and brains would be thinking about Africa's betterment being within Africa. References & Bibliography Arthur J.A, "Invisible Sojourners: African Immigrant Diaspora in the United States" Westport, CT: Praeger, 2000. Hakata M, "Africa Looking for a Job: New African", February 2003. Nyikuli P.K, "Unlocking Africa's Potential: Law and Policy in International Business", Volume: 30. Issue: 4, 1999. Read More