The Great Gen Z Homecoming: Why Young South Africans Are Returning Home In 2026

Over the last few years, South Africans of all ages have packed their bags and moved abroad in search of better opportunities. Recent graduates struggled to find meaningful employment, while others felt their careers were stagnating. Now, the tide is starting to turn, and we’re seeing more and more expats choosing to come home after living overseas.

What’s surprising is that it’s young South Africans who are showing the most interest in returning.

But how come?

That’s exactly what we asked at The TEFL Academy. We surveyed 173 South Africans who have returned to South Africa after living abroad, as well as those who were considering moving home, to understand what’s driving this shift. Here’s what we learned about their time abroad, what’s calling them back, and what life really looks like once they return home.

 What does the data show?

Around 1 million South Africans are living and working abroad in 2026 — and roughly 30% of them have expressed interest in returning home.

That number might not sound significant at first, but the last time interest was this high was during the COVID-19 pandemic, when 34% of expats were looking to come home before international travel halted.

Interestingly, it’s millennials and Gen Z who are leading this trend today. Recruitment firms have reported that the majority of enquiries are coming from younger South Africans who have built careers abroad and are looking for employment back home.

Emigration has been traditionally seen as a permanent decision, but younger generations are proving that it doesn’t have to be. Nearly 41% of South Africans returning home were abroad for one to three years, while close to 37% spent less than a year abroad.

What we’ve learned is that they are using TEFL and other casual work as an opportunity to gain experience, earn, and travel before returning home with a better idea of what they want in life. For many, coming home is not a sign of failure or regret. In fact, it’s part of their plan to build a better life in South Africa.

Read more: 6 Of The Best Gap Year Jobs For Working Abroad

 What young South Africans gain from living abroad

The local job market is highly competitive, which makes it challenging to land an entry-level position without prior work experience. As a result, many recent graduates emigrate to increase their chances of securing their first job.

Working abroad is also an opportunity to gain international experience — something that is not readily available to those who are only just launching their professional careers.

One of the most accessible ways to emigrate is through TEFL and other types of casual work.

For many young South Africans, teaching English is a stepping stone to help them reach their goals, not necessarily the final destination. This type of work allows them to travel, gain experience, develop new skills, and earn an income, often for the very first time.

 Financially, working abroad often comes with a higher earning potential and more possibilities to save money, especially in countries with a lower cost of living. Emigrating also helps young professionals establish international networks and contacts that can open doors for them long after they’ve returned home. On a personal level, living abroad exposes young people to new cultures and ways of thinking, opening them up to a more global perspective. It’s also a great way to build confidence and independence, especially for Gen Z and young millennials who are still discovering who they are and what they want from life.

So, for many young expats, living and working abroad offers a wealth of benefits, not only while they’re overseas. It allows them to develop the resources they need to eventually come back and build a better life.

 Read more:  Transferable Skills For TEFL Teachers

Why they’re coming back

Our survey found that the main reasons behind this great homecoming are deeply personal.

To put it simply: there’s just no place like home.

77.46% of participants said they came home or are considering coming home because they missed spending time with friends and family.

Another major pull was the South African way of life. Around 66.9% of respondents said they missed the country’s humour, friendliness, and social culture, while 55.63% mentioned that the country’s outdoor lifestyle and climate also contributed to their decision to pack their bags.

At the same time, many young South Africans are returning to settle down.

Foreign savings, better exchange rates, and a relatively lower cost of living make buying a home far more affordable in South Africa than abroad. Plus, it has the added bonus of being closer to friends and family.

Fortunately, most come back with international contacts, new skills, and work experience — all of which give them a strong foundation to build on as they enter into the next chapter of their lives.

 The lifestyle trade-off

One thing that we’ve learned from the Gen Z and millennial participants in our study is that choosing to come home for emotional or personal reasons is not a sign of defeat.

More than ever, young South Africans are thinking about how they want to live, and they’ve developed an understanding that a better job doesn’t always mean a better life.

While living abroad can offer higher salaries and more career opportunities than in South Africa, these are not the only factors that matter. Feelings of isolation and a lack of cultural connection can start to outweigh any professional benefits over time.

For Gen Z and young millennials, success and happiness are not only determined by their professional status or salary. It also includes their emotional well-being, which is largely influenced by their relationships and sense of belonging.

 Returning home, but on different terms

Coming home doesn’t always mean starting over.

In many cases, expats moving back to South Africa are better off than when they left. This is because they now have:

•         Greater confidence
•         Practical work experience
•         Global perspective
•         Valuable skills

These assets help them stand out in the local job market and find work more easily.

For many Gen Z and young millennials, the time abroad allows them to return home with their first real work experience. This gives them a much-needed competitive edge to apply for a job back home.

What’s more, the country’s economy benefits from their experience too. Rather than a “brain drain”, the country experiences a “brain circulation”, where new skills and knowledge are brought back home. These ideas and ways of working are then introduced into local industries as the returnees re-enter the workforce. As a result, this brain circulation helps to modernise businesses and boost the South African economy.

 Building global careers on South African soil

Nowadays, coming home no longer means stepping away from international opportunities. Many returnees can still work for global companies while living in South Africa, thanks to the increase in remote work. Not to mention that the South African government is also improving the local infrastructure to make remote work a more viable option.

As a result, many former expats are able to enjoy the best of both worlds.

They can continue earning a foreign income while taking advantage of the exchange rate and relatively low cost of living in South Africa.

This is especially true for those with TEFL experience. Many former TEFL teachers can continue teaching, even after returning home. Online classes allow them to teach students around the world, either privately or through international teaching platforms or schools. On the other hand, they can also work in local language schools using the skills and experience they gained abroad.

As you can see, returning to South Africa is not a dead end. It’s no longer necessary to permanently emigrate to build a better life. There are still plenty of opportunities available back home, especially since remote work makes it possible to maintain a career from anywhere in the world.

 Read more: 10+ Job Roles You Can Work Remotely With

The reality of coming home

Coming home isn’t always that simple.

It’s easy to romanticise life in your home country while living abroad, but returning can also make you second-guess your decision. In our survey, 15% of returnees felt that moving back to South Africa was a mistake, while a further 48% said that it’s too early to tell.

Some participants also experienced reverse culture shock when arriving in South Africa. It took them a while to get used to being back, even though it was a place they knew well and had missed while living abroad.

But there are positives too. Many returnees mentioned that coming back home did benefit them emotionally and mentally.

Don’t just take our word for it:

•         56% said that their emotional and mental health has improved since coming back.
•         On average, they rated their overall life satisfaction at 68.2% since coming home.
•         Despite changes in salary, roughly 68% agreed that their lifestyle feels more comfortable in South Africa.

Overall, coming home is rarely a clear-cut decision or an instant feeling of satisfaction. For many expats, it takes time to settle into a routine and to feel at home again, but it’s usually worth it in the end.

What we’ve learned

For now, we can see a redistribution of skills and ideas that can strengthen the South African economy.

On a larger scale, this homecoming reflects a shift in priorities across Gen Z and young millennials. Plus, it challenges the idea that emigration has to be forever. Instead, we can see that time abroad can be a small step in a larger plan to help young South Africans shape and build the life they want for themselves.

Additionally, these returnees bring back skills, experience, and either foreign income or savings, all of which place them in a stronger financial and professional position than when they left.

Ultimately, this homecoming teaches us that returning home can actually be a step forward rather than a step back.

Author Bio

Written by

Claire Herbert

Edited by Kirsten Colquhoun

Claire Herbert is a TEFL-certified writer and course content developer for The TEFL Academy. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Languages (Spanish and English) from the University of Pretoria. Although her early experiences involved tutoring English literature at the university and hosting conversational English classes, Claire has now switched to developing courses and educational content to help train new TEFL teachers around the world. Read Claire Herbert's story →