By Angeliki Georgakopoulou,
Given the difficult economic recession that Greece has been experiencing for the last decade, combined with the slow functioning institutions and the frustration of many citizens with the lack of transparency, thousands of Greek scientists saw their emigration abroad as a necessary step in their lives and careers. Germany, Sweden, Great Britain, Belgium, the United States of America, and Australia are some of the popular “shelters” of many Greeks and educated people, who refused to stack their degrees on a shelf and compromise with the “minimum wage” that Greece was able to offer them. So, what are the reasons that make Greece an unfavorable place for thousands of Greek scientists? Does this mass exodus have an impact on the functioning of the country as a whole?
Causes
The prevailing opinion is that the Greek exported product with the greatest demand abroad is its valuable scientists. The Bank of Greece, in the context of a survey conducted in 2016, concluded that in the period 2008-2017 the number of young people who decided to leave their Greek homeland and “build” their careers abroad reached 500,000, with 95% of them being graduates with a high educational level and enviable qualifications, who studied courses in a range of Greek universities and now apply their acquired knowledge in the suitable fields.
But why do most Greek scientists, for whom the country has spent significant financial resources on their cultivation and education, want to leave their homeland? The causes of the phenomenon vary. Usually, the main reasons, also known as push factors, that urge the brilliant Greek minds to go abroad have an economic character or foundation. The discrepancy between the rich available scientific potential and the few jobs, the high unemployment rates with the inadequate working hours and part-time jobs that accompany it, and the exhausting workloads with the disappointing financial benefits, are appalling and disappointing for thousands of young people who graduate from Hellenic universities.
Additionally, the lack of meritocracy and the compromise with the demands of nepotism, the lack of transparency, and the continuity given to the maintenance of so-called “customer relationships” in the work environment are also repulsive factors for Greek intellectuals. Another interesting aspect of the social machine called “Greece” that disappoints its educated young people, is the incomplete, almost negligible investment in research, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Greek stagnation, therefore, can only put obstacles to their action and effort to improve society with their knowledge and innovative ideas.
Consequences
This mass migration of Greek intellectuals has a negative effect on the development of the country as a whole. Initially, Greece is in danger of confirming the claims of the European Statistical Office, which state that by 2030, it will occupy first place as the oldest country in the European community. The mass migration of its young scientists is exacerbating the demographic crisis that has plagued it for decades.
Of course, the Greek economy is also affected. The financial resources spent by the state for the education of Greek intellectuals are not reinvested into the Greek workforce but are instead channeled abroad. A multitude of profitable companies is thus successfully set up in developed countries abroad, with their profits strengthening foreign economies, instead of the Greek ones.
In any case, the phenomenon of “brain drain” constitutes a deep wound for Greece. The issue is not just financial. It is also moral. And it will cease to be an issue when the young people of Greece, let alone its intellectuals, return back to it, back to their own families, their own homeland. As emotional as it sounds, it is a real event that causes tangible problems of economic and social degradation in the country and requires immediate and drastic treatment.
References
- Definition of brain drain, merriam-webster.com, Available here
- Brain Drain, investopedia.com, Available here
- How Extensive Is the Brain Drain?, imf.org, Available here
