52% of Nigerian professionals want to migrate - Phillips Consulting

Phillips Consulting has said over 52 per cent of professionals in Nigeria are currently contemplating leaving their current jobs for opportunities overseas within the next year.

It disclosed this in its report titled, ‘The talent management report, A new world order: shifting paradigms in addressing the brain drain’, which was presented during the quarterly meetup of the Nigerian Human Resources Directors Network in Lagos.

According to the report, finance and insurance, professional services, education, healthcare, and IT industries would be the hardest-hit professions.

Nearly 50 per cent of employees working in these fields were considering leaving, it said.

The report said Nigerian businesses faced numerous challenges in the post-pandemic world, such as market uncertainty, inflation, digitisation acceleration, changes in consumer behaviour, increased operational expenses, and complexity.

Employee retention and brain drain prevention were today’s most pressing issues, it noted.

It added that before the Ukraine crisis, the Nigerian economy faced multiple challenges, including unemployment, a weak currency, and insecurity.

The situation had exacerbated the high cost of living and affected employees’ finances and purchasing power, it said.

It stated, “However, research findings show that 90 per cent of Nigerians who have faced an increased cost of living are cutting their spending on essential and non-essential items.

“This has resulted in financial stress, decreased purchasing power, lower job satisfaction, and higher job mobility and migration rates.

“Consequently, employees now channel their efforts toward increasing their revenue streams, improving economic stability, and enhancing their standard of living. To achieve these objectives, many are creating a ‘side hustle’, finding better-paying jobs, or relocating abroad. As a result, the attrition rate across key sectors has increased significantly.”

It stated that as labour shortages continued to rise globally, there was intense competition for talent, especially in low-to-middle-skilled occupations.

The survey noted t that employees were resigning or migrating for a mix of issues, some of which were within an organisation’s direct control, while others were not.

It said findings revealed that Nigerian professionals looking to migrate preferred Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States as their top three destinations.