Migration of Czech workers poses risk of brain drain
Published: 25 January 2006
The free movement of labour is one of the fundamental pillars of the single European market. Although there has not been any large-scale movement of labour between EU Member States, foreign migration does exist, especially among a relatively narrow set of highly qualified people. In the Czech Republic - a country that is potentially at risk of a 'brain drain'- the issue of the foreign migration of Czechs for work has been systematically monitored since 2000. The first extensive survey of the migration intentions of the Czech population was conducted in September and October 2000, while partial problems of interstate work migration have been examined in the Czech Republic since the mid-1990s.
In recent years, research in the Czech Republic has focused on the potential impact of the country’s entry into the EU on the migration of highly qualified Czech workers to foreign countries. While foreign migration of qualified Czech labour may, on the one hand, help increase the competitiveness of the Czech economy, there are concerns that it could destabilise certain economic sectors.
The free movement of labour is one of the fundamental pillars of the single European market. Although there has not been any large-scale movement of labour between EU Member States, foreign migration does exist, especially among a relatively narrow set of highly qualified people. In the Czech Republic - a country that is potentially at risk of a 'brain drain'- the issue of the foreign migration of Czechs for work has been systematically monitored since 2000. The first extensive survey of the migration intentions of the Czech population was conducted in September and October 2000, while partial problems of interstate work migration have been examined in the Czech Republic since the mid-1990s.
Monitoring worker migration
Regular migration monitoring scrutinises changes in the motivations of the Czech population in relation to migration, in order to document the state and development of migration intentions, the scale of actual work migration by Czech people to foreign countries - chiefly to Germany and Austria - and developments in attitudes to migration among the Czech population. Extensive empirical research was conducted in relation to the Czech Republic’s accession to the EU and the future free movement of labour. The research aimed to investigate whether the Czech Republic’s entry to the EU - along with other factors like differences in the wage levels of the Czech Republic and more advanced European economies and the future free movement of Czech workers within the EU (in 2011 at the latest), as well as the foreign job-offer programmes for highly qualified labour - would bring about an exodus of Czech specialists and, if so, on what scale. Almost 9,500 Czech citizens were approached in field surveys conducted throughout the Czech Republic, including in border regions next to Germany and Austria. Based on these survey findings, working hypotheses were formulated for foreign migration among highly skilled labour, as represented by questions like:
What degree of work migration can be expected among highly skilled Czech workers and would their possible exodus jeopardise the stability of the given sector?
Are the work migration tendencies the same for these workers as those found in the majority population (tendency relative to the length of foreign migration, the choice of target territory, the motives for migration etc)?
Does the demand for skilled labour in the Czech labour market match the nature of the demand in the European labour market (or in the labour markets of the border regions of neighbouring countries)?
Is it reasonable to expect greater migration tendencies among doctors and healthcare personnel in view of their high-quality, universally applicable education and pay level in the Czech Republic compared with that of their foreign colleagues?
What are the attitudes to migration among Czech scientists and the staff of research institutes and universities, who are highly undervalued in terms of their income levels, and how do these attitudes compare with those of other public sector professionals in the Czech Republic, e.g. members of the police force, fire brigade?
Is work migration among highly trained specialists influenced by territory, e.g. relative to economic prosperity, unemployment levels, immediate proximity to Germany or Austria?
What other highly skilled professional groups, especially in the private sector, can be regarded as particularly high-risk in terms of foreign migration from the Czech Republic’s point of view?
The application of this set of questions was divided into different time phases. The aim of the first phase was to ascertain the current situation in the domestic labour market for skilled labour and to compare it with selected EU countries. Comparative analysis was used to identify high-risk professional groups in the Czech population and their migration potential, and the resulting risks were verified.
Demand for skilled labour abroad
The demand for skilled professions abroad was monitored from two sources. The European market of job vacancies was monitored on the EURES (European Employment Services) websites. A field survey of recruitment agencies brokering legal work for Czech citizens abroad was also conducted (there are a number of private agencies in the Czech market offering Czech specialists jobs abroad). Representatives of 20 of the leading recruitment agencies were interviewed separately. Most of the contacted agencies brokered work for Czechs in Ireland, Great Britain and Germany. Less frequently, employment in Austria, Switzerland and Italy was brokered; and in exceptional cases, work was offered in Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Saudi Arabia.
In Ireland, recruitment covers all professions, from skilled artisans to university-educated specialists. Among qualified labour, the greatest demand is for experts in information technology (IT), telecommunications and healthcare. Jobs in Great Britain and Germany are also offered to IT specialists, doctors of all specialisations, skilled nurses and carers; capable artisans also find considerable work in these countries, but manual labourers were not included in the survey.
The demand in Austria, Switzerland and Italy was chiefly for nurses, rehabilitation workers and carers of old age pensioners (a shortage of staff in these professions is typical in almost all the European countries surveyed).
As a country with a fast-growing economy, New Zealand also suffers from a lack of skilled workers in certain fields and its recruitment programmes also focus on the Czech Republic. The list of understaffed professions (excluding manual labour) relates to professions where workers hold a university education, particularly a technical education, but also includes doctors and teachers, including secondary school teachers, although filling teaching vacancies with Czech workers is made difficult by the required excellent knowledge of the language.
In exceptional cases, Czech citizens are also recruited to work in Australia, mainly in technical fields; however, the generally high qualification demands placed on migrants in this country makes it almost impossible for people without a university education and good knowledge of English to find work.
Work migration to the USA and Canada demands top-quality candidates, as there is strong competition from developing countries where English is an official language as well as from other European countries. The USA is particularly characterised by its endeavour to gain high-quality specialists, renowned scientists and research workers. For Czech workers, demand in these countries relates mainly to nurses. Although the United States will reportedly have a shortage of as many as to two million nurses in the next decade, healthcare facilities are very careful in their selection of new staff. By way of illustration, approximately 70 healthcare workers (nurses, some doctors) from the Czech Republic have emigrated annually through one recruitment agency - but this figure represents just one-fifth of all candidates.
The following table shows the identified work migration tendencies among Czech specialists and the shift in the migration trend from 2000 to 2003.
Table: Migration tendencies of the Czech population (comparing 2003 with 2000)
| Characteristic | 2003 survey | 2000 survey | ||||
| Absolute | % of respondents | % of potential migrants | Absolute | % of respondents | % of potential migrants | |
| Total respondents | 1,101 | 100 | . | 4,770 | 100 | . |
| of which: | ||||||
| - have a negative attitude to migration | 906 | 82.3 | . | 4,089 | 85.7 | . |
| - have a positive attitude to migration | 195 | 17.7 | 100 | 681 | 14.3 | 100 |
| of which are considering migration: | ||||||
| - purely theoretically | 84 | 7.6 | 43.1 | 405 | 8.5 | 59.2 |
| - largely hypothetically | 62 | 5.6 | 31.8 | 196 | 4.1 | 28.8 |
| - with some degree of probability | 31 | 2.9 | 15.9 | 57 | 1.2 | 8.3 |
| - seriously | 18 | 1.6 | 9.1 | 23 | 0.5 | 3.8 |
Source: Vavrečková, J., Migration potential of the Czech population in the process of European integration, Research Institute for Labour and Social Affairs (RILSA), December 2003
The findings of the 2003 field survey verify the basic trend identified in 2000/2001. To summarise, it is fair to say that the vast majority of Czechs have not made any effort to find work abroad and prefer to stay and work in the Czech Republic. Moreover, there are fundamental differences among potential migrants in terms of the degree of realisation of the declared intention: the scale of the positive attitude to migration is considerably reduced relative to actual realisation of the intention. Future likely migration also reflects merely the subjective intention of the respondent and says nothing about the attitude of the target state and foreign employer.
In relation to the population of the surveyed border regions, essentially the same migration trends as the Czech population as a whole are indicated. However, the scale of potential migrants in border regions is approximately 3% to 4% higher than non-border regions in the Czech Republic - one factor in these results is the tendency for cross-border commuting, which is a feature of border localities. In these regions also, there is a proven reduction in migration potential relative to specific activities associated with foreign migration, e.g. finding a job, accommodation, getting a work permit, residence permit etc.
The research included partly standardised, managed interviews with selected experts. These expert interviews were conducted with senior representatives of local labour authorities, responsible staff of regional state administration and mayors of selected border municipalities. As far as predictions of future developments are concerned, the prevailing opinion voiced was that the need for skilled and experienced specialists in Europe would grow and that Czech specialists have the opportunity of going abroad for work even under the conditions of the existing restrictions of free movement of labour; it is therefore expected that a number of these specialists would make use of this opportunity. By contrast, Czech work migration overseas (beyond Europe) would be the exception rather than the rule, according to the interviewed experts.
The considerably higher incomes on offer is not the only motive encouraging university-educated Czechs to work abroad: other motivations include the experience it would afford, the generally better-equipped workplaces, the opportunity to make personal contacts and to establish a basis for future career progress. It is widely thought that the vast majority of highly qualified migrants will return to the Czech Republic after a period and put to advantageous use the experiences gained abroad; in particular, the growing number of transnational companies operating in the Czech Republic makes it reasonable to expect that there will be enormous demand for this kind of skilled labour in the Czech market. In the opinion of some, the risk of permanent migration is particularly relevant for the young generation, with its different value system and marked preference for a professional career.
Commentary
Foreign migration of qualified Czech labour may, on the one hand, help increase the competitiveness of the Czech economy in the EU but, on the other hand, may result in short-term destabilisation of certain economic sectors. The most significant impacts can be expected among relatively small professional groups of highly skilled experts, who are hard to replace if they go abroad. For that reason it is essential to keep monitoring the migration motivation of this category, to take a systematic approach to tackling any emerging risks and to take suitable preventive measures, e.g. in relation to Czech immigration policy, income policy and education strategy. (Jana Vavrečková, Research Institute for Labour and Social Affairs)
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (2006), Migration of Czech workers poses risk of brain drain, article.
