Nigeria Tech Talent Shortage – How Brain Drain Is Threatening Recruitment

There is no disputing the fact that most firms in Nigeria are constantly losing top tech talents to organizations abroad. Enticed by great incentives and highly competitive wages these tech talents do not hesitate to migrate to Europe. Today, Nigeria leads the rest of Africa as the country with the most immigrants in countries like the UK, US, and Canada.

These Nigerian tech talents are leaving their current positions which is posing a serious challenge to their employers, due to their exit, these employers are often faced with the issue of replacing them. I earlier wrote an article concerning the high resignation of top tech talents in Nigerian Banks.

The exit of these tech talents from organizations has become a huge problem for their employers, due to mobility and options available to them today. Employers are finding it hard to get them replaced, and if eventually they find their replacement, it won’t be long before that talent moves to another organization which is often to a company abroad.

The tech economy globally, is now low with barriers from entry, that even those at entry-level with marketable skills are still sought after by different organizations overseas.

During and after the pandemic, so many companies in Europe began to change their workplace structure to either remote or hybrid systems of work, which mandated that employees can perform their jobs from anywhere they are, and only report to the workplace if there is a need for it.

Many workers welcomed this development which suddenly became a norm. Unlike in Nigeria, most firms still hold on to the traditional workplace structure, which some executives disclosed that working onsite is more productive and an effective way to boost staff morale.

Despite the fact that remote work has become significant with tech companies, some Nigerian firms still struggle with allowing tech talents to work remotely, which a large percentage of them are not cool with. Even top companies like Google and Apple had to allow their staff members who do not want to return to the workplace to work from home.

Almost every day, tech talents in Nigeria announce on social media platforms, especially on Twitter, that they are finally relocating from Nigeria to join a company in Europe. Most of the reasons for their relocation ranges from competitive salaries, Excellent working conditions,  flexibility of employees, Good infrastructure, etc.

There is an evident discontent that these local tech talents are treated unfairly compared with expatriates that work for Nigerian organizations. Some other factors that spur these tech talents to leave the country is when they hear the testimonies of friends or colleagues who left the country and are enjoying so many benefits that they never got back in Nigeria.

While some of these tech talents migrate, some are hired to work remotely for these organizations. The world is constantly evolving and Nigerian companies must see the need to evolve to retain these talents.

Remote work systems have become so popular in the tech ecosystem, that rather than insist on full-time employment, Nigerian employers should understand that such a system is outdated.

These shortages of talents have caused some problems for some of these organizations. For instance, in banks in Nigeria, they have witnessed a high level of frustration in efficiently running their digital banking business.

It’s high time Nigerian organizations offer these tech talents competitive wages coupled with incentives which is one major factor that encourages them to migrate. Most of these migrations usually come from tempting offers from companies outside Nigeria.

No tech talent will want to leave where he or she is well paid. Although I will not dispute the fact that some organizations pay tech talents well, unfortunately, the situation of the country has forced some of these talents to migrate to saner climes.

With problems in the country ranging from insecurity, bad governance, poor infrastructure, and poor power supply (seriously affecting remote workers) all of these have prompted them to relocate without looking back.

Nigeria is currently competing for the few remaining tech talents against European countries. It is unfortunately a competition that the country seems to be losing almost every day. The brain drain is seriously threatening local tech talent recruitment.