Is the boom in migration good for sending and recipient countries?

The total number of expats in the world is already estimated at about 200m. That’s only 3% of the world’s population, so there is still potential for growth.
Rich countries, who are in an economic boom, need more workers than they have. So they hope that outsiders will keep coming. And they will! For some, there is a strong incentive to work abroad, since their income could be the fivefold of the income at home. The problem in poor and middle-income countries is that there is a chronic shortage of skilled workers. This “brain drain” is mostly to rich countries. But these poorer countries should realise that emigration of these skilled workers is a consequence rather than a course of its problems. For example nurses in Malawi emigrate massively, because their salaries are too low, or often not paid. What the government should do is managing this problem, for example by raising the salaries of the nurses.

Jana Jonckheere
Source: http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displayStory.cfm?story_id=10286197

Belgian managers are in demand

More and more Belgians leave the country to work abroad, according to John Attenborough, from PMO, Prospective Management Overseas. Since not all of them are registered in an embassy, it’s difficult to know the exact number of expats. The organization VIM, Vlamingen in de wereld, tries to find out how many Belgians work abroad and has information about the education, gender, occupation and age of the expats. Men are in the majority and although a lot of young people are enthusiastic to leave the country, the real topmanagers abroad are between 45 and 50 years old. Belgians are beloved in the foreign board of directors because of several qualities, such as flexibility, multilingualism, diplomacy and adaptability. Some can perfectly work in an organisation with a total different culture. These qualities can be important to function in an environment of globalisation. Many “High potentials” think that work in Belgium is too limited. There are mostly small and medium enterprises. Big enterprises generally moved to foreign countries. That’s why they search a bigger challenge and experience abroad. Most of the expats prefer to stay in the foreign country. So when they come back, it’s usually for a personal reason.

Jana Jonckheere
Source: http://www.trends.be/nl/archief/2003/24%20april%202003/De+machtigste+Belgen+++in+het+buitenland-6298-214076.html

The Obama-effect: moving to the land of renewed hope and glory

The new resident of the White House didn’t only bring back hope into many American hearts, this new hope crossed the Atlantic and brought back a feeling of respect and fraternity between US and European citizens. Suddenly the US doesn’t seem like a gun loving, imperialistic, obese almost bloodthirsty nation anymore but rather represents a country where change is possible and hope is alive. This change gives a great incentive to every European who has ever considered moving to the US. The Flemish organisation Vlamingen in de Wereld, which offers assistance to Belgian expats, has noticed a large increase of interest in our country. VIM offers 2 information sessions regarding 'moving to the US' every year but are now overwhelmed with candidates and will have to organise additional sessions this year to meet the demand. Participants have more than doubled since Barack Obama was certain of his place in the oval office. But not only individuals are searching to find a new life on the other side of the pond, more and more European companies are preparing to enter the American market.

The new image Obama gave to his country has restored the European confidence in the US, let’s hope he’ll live up to his expectations.

Felix Braeckman

Source: De Standaard (18/11/2008)