The brain drain: challenges and opportunities for development.

• Author: Roisin, Anne-Christine

Governments and international actors increasingly need an innovative approach to the increased rate in migration of skilled workers, known as "brain drain". In 1990, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development listed 13 million skilled migrants from developing countries. Although the volume of skilled migration is relatively small compared to the migration of unqualified workers, its social and economic relevance is high. Two surveys of African returnees in the 1990s, carried out by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), have identified some of the driving forces of skilled migration.

First, the technological revolution has resulted in a huge growth of specific industries in developed countries, notably in the information technology sector. This trend has fostered a growing global demand for highly-skilled workers, and new communication technologies have increased their accessibility to the global labour market. The globalization process is also changing the pattern of labour relations, making advanced economies turn towards the developing countries for their workforce.

Second, a decline in population and skilled workers, partially due to the growing ageing population, has made developed countries increasingly dependent on some economic and social services sectors. The United Kingdom, for instance, encourages migration of nurses and medical professionals from developing countries; since 1999, the number has soared, with nurses coming mainly from former British colonies like Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria.

Third, high unemployment among graduates in developing countries leads to increased migration. Additionally, skilled workers needed on the global market tend to move because their primary interest or affiliation is more geared to their scientific environment than to their employer or a particular location. "When we look at the international mobility of these persons, it is a means of retraining them and maintaining their educational investment, instead of losing them in their country", according to Luca Dall'Oglio, Permanent Observer of IOM to the United Nations. However, a "brain waste" phenomenon is also present in developed countries, "where skilled workers move abroad and then find work that is totally different from their expectations", he told the UN Chronicle.

Finally, during the last three decades a number of developing countries have experienced salary freezes, currency devaluation and rampant inflation, leading professionals to move to safer environments where remunerations match their qualifications, and currencies...