Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Half of Russia’s Scholars, Top Managers and IT Specialists Want to Emigrate, Survey Finds


Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 27 – A new survey of 24,000 Russians suggests that the brain drain from that country isn’t going to end anytime soon given that 50 percent of the country’s scholars, 52 percent of its top managers and 54 percent of its IT specialists say they want to leave Russia and work abroad.

            The findings of this study, conducted by the Boston Consulting Group, represents a vote of no confidence in the current Russian regime by the very people that could would need if it is to have the economic breakthrough that Vladimir Putin is constantly talking about (finanz.ru/novosti/aktsii/polovina-rossiyskikh-uchenykh-zayavili-o-zhelanii-emigrirovat-1027322119).

                Almost 12 percent say they would like to work in Germany, just over seven percent would choose Israel, and 2.07 percent say they want to work in Switzerland. “Between 1.2 and 1.5 percent choose France, the United States, Belgium, and the United Kingdom,” the Finanz.ru agency reports.

            The study also found that only six percent of those who have already emigrated are interested in returning to Russia. 

            The Russians who want to leave say they do so because other countries offer higher pay, more valuable work experience, a higher standard of living and expanded career opportunities. But they also site drivers like “economic instability” in their own country and shortcomings in Russian health care, education and child care.

            The study’s authors say that “neither Russia nor Moscow can compete for talents at the world level.  As a result, “the very best specialists want to move abroad,” something that will only exacerbate Russia’s difficulties in raising standards in Russia and competing to retain those who come afterwards

            According to the Russian Academy of Economics and State Service, approximately 100,000 Russians are leaving for more developed countries each year, a figure that is seven times the number to which the government’s statistical agency, Rosstat, admits. According to it, only 15,500 are leaving.

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