VENEZUELA FACING BIGGEST BRAIN DRAIN WITH HIGHLY QUALIFIED QUALIFIED PERSONNEL LEAVING THE COUNTRY WITH 1.2 MILLION PEOPLE LEFT SINCE 2004 TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES FOR JOBS EVEN RESEARCH PROFESSORS AT UNIVERSITY IS GETTING MONTHLY SALARY OF JUST ONLY $ 500 AND GOVT FIRED 23000 SKILLED PROFESSIONALS IN 2003 OF OIL COMPANIES WHO WERE ALL HIRED BY BIG OIL COMPANIES IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES Migration-wise Venezuela has radically shifted over the last 20 years, from a major immigrant destination to a country of emigrants. Since 2004 more than 1.2 million Venezuelans have departed for greener pastures. They are mostly young, middle-class, highly trained professionals, many holding Masters and Doctoral Degrees. It is a talent that leaves never, or seldom, to return to the home country that trained them. Venezuelan expats are quickly recruited by foreign universities and institutions. For these expats it is harder to restore professional connections to the home country as, unlike other countries in the region, Venezuela lacks public policies to benefit from these highly skilled human resources by promoting their reconnecting to the homeland. The figures of emigrants cited here are from the studies conducted by Iván De La Vega, a sociologist-researcher with Simón Bolívar University who has studied Venezuelan migratory flows since 1995. The figures are De La Vegas own estimates drawn from statistics obtained from several countries and relevant international agencies that do not take into account the number of illegal aliens. Figures are raw estimates because peoples mobility is dynamic, he explains. According to De La Vega, a brain drain like the one we have now was inconceivable 20 years ago when inflow was greater than outflow. Now it is the other way around, with those highly trained professionals heading for the exits failing to forge links with research organizations or institutions in the home country. Their new country of residence capitalizes on these talented people, De La Vega says. The most attractive destinations for Venezuelans are the United States, Spain, and more recently Panama and Costa Rica, along with Portugal, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and Canada. Neighboring Colombia is a case in point. Colombian Foreign Minister María Angela Holguín has recently declared that 250,000 Venezuelans have settled in Colombia, in addition to another 250,000 who constantly move between the two countries.According to De La Vega, the problem has worsened over the last three years. Emigration has increased sharply in a context of political uncertainty; 56.6% inflation in 2013; and more than 24,000 people killed last year alone, according to estimates by the Venezuelan Violence Observatory. Intellectual diaspora As reported by De La Vega, a researcher with a Venezuelan university earns around USD 500 a month, compared to their counterparts in Colombia (USD 3,200) and Chile (USD 4,500). A university professor makes USD 9,600 in Canada. Add to the equation the social and economic stability in those countries and you will find them pretty much enticing, he says before introducing the concept of ‘intellectual diaspora as defined in the studies conducted by a French team of experts in the issue of migration led by researcher Rémi Barré. Intellectual diasporas are made up by highly skilled people emigrating from a less developed country to a more developed one who formally reconnect with their homeland by means of research projects, expert advice, visits, or acting as agents fostering research. In other words, expat intellectuals can, by using technology platforms or otherwise, forge professional links with the home country and develop many projects benefitting their homeland. The above ‘intellectual diaspora concept does not apply to Venezuela, because, as De La Vega explains, The government is not interested in reconnecting with qualified expats. He cites the case of the 23,000 highly skilled workers fired at the state oil company Pdvsa in 2003, many of whom were later hired by the oil industries in other countries, severing links with the home country that trained them.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Feb 2014 02:35:10 +0000