85 Million

October 14, 2022 - By 2030 – in just 6 years! – Korn Ferry has estimated that there will be a global human talent shortage of more than 85 million people.

To put that into perspective, it’s a gap that exceeds the entire population of Germany or South Africa and is ten times the population of Switzerland.

How will economies operate with such a massive shortage of staff? Korn Ferry estimates that this staffing shortage will cost companies around the world about $8.5 trillion in unrealized annual revenues

Where will the world find 85 million workers?

Africa.

Africa is the world’s youngest continent with the largest and fastest-growing pool of untapped talent globally. Today the average age of those living in Africa 19 years, compared to 48 years in Germany or Japan.  By 2050 Africa will have an expected workforce of 1 billion – larger than China or India's.

However, today just under 9% of school-leavers in Sub Saharan Africa have access to tertiary education; or less than 1 in 10. Compare this to North America, where 74% of high school students go on to university.

I don’t think Africa or the world’s development is possible without the development of Africa’s young people.

Some interesting research by Africa No Filter amongst the the continent’s 18- to 35-year-old demographic, gives us some insight into Africa’s youth.

They self-identify by their nationality first, followed by being African. They disagree with tribalism and are largely interested in a positive coexistence between tribes. However, they feel excluded. They want to be involved in solving the socio-political problems in their countries but feel ignored by political parties and politicians so don’t vote and don’t support political parties.

They are pessimistic about their opportunities for employment and blame poor education that is out of tune with what today’s working life requires. Instead they become self starters, looking to entrepreneurship for answers, income and purpose; particularly technology, agriculture and retail.

Migration is top of mind for over half of Africa’s young people as the Ichikowitz Family Foundation’s 2022 Africa Youth Survey found that 52% of the youth want to emigrate in the next 3 years if their governments do not improve their quality of life. This is a 22% increase from 2019. Sixty six percent of the youth in Angola and Malawi, and 75% in Nigeria and Sudan want to emigrate.

If Africa and particularly Africa’s young people are left out, are not given access to quality, locally-relevant education, to job opportunities, the whole world will pay the consequences, given the instability we are already seeing both on the continent and the consequences of migration occurring globally.

What can you, what can your company do to prepare Africa’s work force to fill the 85 million shortage of workers?

If you’d like to know more or discuss how you and your company can tap into the enthusiasm and self-starter mentality of Africa’s workforce to meet the deficit of 85 million employees, please reach out to me.

It would behoove all of us to do everything we possibly can to support the development and inclusion of Africa’s 1 million strong work force.

Photo: Office workers in Kampala, Uganda by Dr. Deanne De Vries