Johannesburg — RECRUITMENT company Professional Assignments Group (PAG) is identifying skills gaps in the market as a way to grow the company.

PAG, a division of JSE-listed Kelly Group, recently launched two new arms aimed at bridging skills gaps in finance and management disciplines.

MD Lawrence Wordon said he had not seen much interest in South Africans wanting to return home after emigrating. Despite the company targeting professionals in favourite emigration destinations, it was "all one-way traffic".

PAG's GAP Executive Management Solutions had grown out of a need for management- level staff in SA.

Wordon said the division recruited qualified South Africans no longer employed for assignments in management. The division followed an international model where the use of highly skilled executives on short-term or part-time contracts to address critical management issues was common practice. This strategy of interim management is rarely used in SA.

Areas especially hard hit included construction and auditing, he said. The division had already attracted interest from potential recruits and PAG had been in discussions with several government divisions. Wordon said that for the government it offered a way to transfer skills.

The division would also be targeting the corporate environment, as replacing managers could take up to six months. Wordon said that the division offered a "caretaker" solution.

PAG also noted a shortage in accounting skills, despite about 2000 newly qualified accountants who had passed the board exam entering the marketplace.

PAG has set up a specialist financial recruitment hub.

Wordon said the company saw the skills shortage as an opportunity and would continue to seek gaps in the market to fill as a growth strategy.