The Department of Home Affairs is currently calling for public comment on the draft of a new Critical Skills List.

However, several roles that featured in the previous list, has been omitted from the latest draft List.

Marisa Jacobs, director at Xpatweb, encourages organisations who rely on any of the omitted roles for the sustainability and growth of their business to comment on the draft list before 16h00 on 31 March 2021.

“If they don’t, they will have to wait several months longer before an employee critical to their operations can be onboarded due to visa application restrictions,” she warns.

Jacobs also invites these employers to complete the current Critical Skills Survey, which is more in-depth than previously. Doing so will ensure their needs are presented to regulators long before the next public comment process is announced.

Xpatweb has carried out its Critical Skills Survey for the past five years, providing reliable data on the needs of South African businesses. As a result, it was the only private sector organisation invited to present its findings before the Departments involved in compiling the draft List.