Skills shortages threaten business prospects - survey

Done by Grant Thornton, the survey indicates that the situation has been exacerbated by the country's high rate of poor motivation or attitude amongst applicants and restriction of immigration inflows.  It found that Botswana's greatest challenges in recruiting appropriate staff are lack of specific, technical or recruitment skills.  Specifically, Grant Thornton said shortage of specific or technical skills is as high as 79 percent while lack of appropriate work experience stood at 77 percent and a lack of required qualification recorded a score of 71 percent.

About 62 percent of business executives interviewed pointed at the lack of motivation or right attitude by the workers in Botswana as a significant impediment while 53 percent said the restriction of immigration inflows was a substantial contributor.Dinesh Mallan, senior partner of Grant Thornton in Botswana said: "In the current competitive world, business leaders require a highly skilled and talented workforce to achieve their objectives.