Is the brain drain effect a real problem?

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The brain drain effect is really common in developing countries and is usually correlated with few educational resources. This represents a lack of opportunities and, in most of the cases, social conflicts; generating a professional deficit in strategic areas such as science, technology, and innovation.

According to a World Bank research, approximately 3 percent of the world’s population lives in a country different from that of their birth, and this number has been increasing constantly year by year. For sure, this quantity is interrelated with the brain drain phenomenon and that is why some developing nations are invariably hit economically and socially in the short run.

Better chances like better universities and educational systems, higher technology enterprises and research centers are offered in developed countries. These are the main factors, which interact on the decision of highly educated and skilled workers, about leaving their native countries. This is the reason why OECD countries showed larger rates of immigrants and why other nations are stocked and strongly looking for the improvement of their economies.

But is this event a real nuisance for everyone?

Is it real that the brain drain phenomenon represents a social difficulty and that it has overwhelming consequences for the home country’s economy? Every qualified and experienced worker leaving represents a failed investment if we take into consideration the education system and the national government’s funds.

However, some countries found this condition as an opportunity to invest in. According to them, they can increase their competitiveness on the global markets, strengthen their exports and create new jobs. More and more companies from developed countries, such as the USA, Denmark, and Germany, are putting their efforts into creating programs for their employees, which allow them to develop their markets and explore different blue oceans around the world. This constructive and globalized activity is known as “International Export Talents”.

Some of the benefits of the brain drain effect, that companies and economies have learned to take advantage of, are:

  • To create links to global sources of knowledge, capital, and goods.
  • A better social and educative level.
  • A better foreign markets know-how and new business ideas.
  • Focus on the skills gained and remittances.

The result of all of them is considered circular migration.

Brain drain remains a problem to different countries and companies, migration is a right, and freedom of movement cannot be prohibited to anyone. Even when governments have the job of implementing effective measures for this obstacle, that does not mean companies cannot contribute to a solution and take into consideration that they have to take care of their employees and develop them in order to grow their operations.

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