Summary
Portugal and other Southern European nations are struggling with a “brain drain” as young professionals migrate to wealthier EU countries for better pay and career prospects.
To counter this, Portugal plans tax breaks and housing incentives for under-35s, though many doubt these measures will be enough.
The talent exodus threatens tax revenue and labor markets, heightening Europe’s economic challenges amid population decline and low productivity.
Similar efforts in countries like Italy have seen limited success, as young workers continue to seek stability abroad despite incentives.
I find it interesting compared to the USA.
The USA has migration from richer parts of the country to select poorer parts because the lower cost of living makes up for the lower wages. There are also states that built themselves in part on the back of being a low cost of living place to retire.
Why isn’t Europe there yet?
I doubt we will get there. It’s not the same situation. You don’t only get more money and stability, you also get services and better quality of life overall. Imagine you live in italy: pay a lot of taxes and have broken roads, trash everywhere, public transportation with high record absenteism so basically working half the time but for some reasons record high number of politicians and their salary is also record high. Meanwhile if you want to do research/teach you get the lowest wages in the EU, you look for jobs and everyone wants to hire you off the books, government keeps cutting healtcare/pensions… Especially if you learned another language you yend to run as far away from here, you may get up to 5 times your salary in italy and do what you actually wanna work on, and live better too. You may have to pay more taxes, but you’ll be able to afford it and get something in return too. Funny enough you could even have vacations in your own country since you’ll now be able to afford it lol
As someone from Germany, i strongly advise against moving to Germany. You get shit services, massive racism and shit weather. If you decide to come nonetheless, prepare to deal with no cell-phone coverage as you go by train or car across the country. Also the Trains are notoriously late and the highways are crumbling. It only takes some triple digit billions to catch up with the deficit in infrastructure investment.
Prepare to wait for up to a year for specialist doctors appointments. That is if the doctors you tried to visit didn’t all turn you down, because they are either overbooked or said that you look fine and southerners are just always dramatic.
And if you look like you could be from the Middle East, so if you are Spanish, Italian, from the Balkans, Latin America or any other place where people aren’t pale as fuck, prepare to be insulted, threatened and sometimes violently attacked in the streets.
If they don’t pay, people move where the wage is better
Stronger worker protections and incentives for new businesses would help.
Best of both world is to work remote for those northern companies while having lower cost of living down south where the darkness of midwinter doesn’t hit as hard.
I have considered doing that. I work remote in America and would love an opportunity like that.
See? That’s why Portugal should also have college loans.
You can’t leave if you’ve got minus money.
