Finland’s brain drain: what happens to small countries when the talent leaves?

[Deleted]

Then become a bi lingual country. Most Scandinavian people speak English anyways.

We already are. Swedish is our second language. Not sure why it matters that most Scandinavians speak English, as Finland ain't part of Scandinavia.

[Vapo]

Then become a bi lingual country. Most Scandinavian people speak English anyways.

Finland already is bilingual, and lots of people, especially younger folk, obviously speak english as its taught AT LEAST from 3rd grade till 9th. Also most refugees do not speak even english, so it doesnt even matter if you bring them as you still need a translator EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. they need to do something.


So yea, maybe we should act like you, holier than thou, and only pick 1000 educated people who meet high standards to ensure high chance of integration and ignore all the 10s of millions of other actual refugees like canada.

[Tennis]

All countries have this, and there's no "brain drain"... There's still plenty of talent to go around. Society doesn't function upon the backs of the people with the highest educations.

It functions on the backs of people doing the dirty work, IE the vast majority.

All countries do but some can withstand it a lot better than others. Finland might not be able to withstand it as well as other countries.

[Freighter]

We're talking about Finland. Please stay on topic. Large numbers leaving such a small country is very concerning. They need to up levels of immigration and refugee intake to make up for it.

Refugees tend to be a resource hog. I don't see why any country would take refugees for making up for native labor force deficits if they need more people working.

[Nihilist74]

I don't think i would want to leave Finland for New York or Washington DC. I would like the cold climate in Finland I think? I would not want to live in a city as crowded as New York city not even for more money. As long as i had a decent place to live, decent food to eat, be able to upgrade my computer once in a while, buy games and toys once in a while I would be pretty happy.

[Deleted]

All countries do but some can withstand it a lot better than others. Finland might not be able to withstand it as well as other countries.

Yeah places like Sweden have made a prime example of how to withstand the leaving of highly educated people by mass-immigration.

[Independent voter]

I don't think i would want to leave Finland for New York or Washington DC. I would like the cold climate in Finland I think? I would not want to live in a city as crowded as New York city not even for more money. As long as i had a decent place to live, decent food to eat, be able to upgrade my computer once in a while, buy games and toys once in a while I would be pretty happy.

Most were farmers coming to the US for cheap farmland.

[Super Kami Dende]

No dude. Canada takes in hundreds of thousands of immigrants each year, many of them highly qualified. We're fine.

>Highly Qualified Immigrants come into Canada
>Canadians with similar qualifications face more competition
>Canadians move to other Countries.

Vicious cycle.

[Mihalik]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/lo...-a7812686.html

Rather than stay and make their country a better place, they're running for greener pastures. Must be good to be a talent destination like Dubai, New York, Canada etc.

It spells gloom if Finland can't retain its best and brightest.

The shit weather combined with a boring provincial lifestyle is a pretty good combo to chase people away. Unless Finland can pull a city of 2+ million and an extra 90 days of sunshine out of its ass, the trend will continue.

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We already are. Swedish is our second language. Not sure why it matters that most Scandinavians speak English, as Finland ain't part of Scandinavia.

While Finland is a Baltic state, it tends to get bundled with the Nordics for various reasons.

[Deleted]

While Finland is a Baltic state, it tends to get bundled with the Nordics for various reasons.

Finland ain't Baltic State either. Just part of Nordic countries and Fennoscandia.

[Zubacz]

They won't be running off to Sweden any more. And if they open their doors to the refugees from the Berlin Caliphate, they might get a lot of "brain" back.

[haxartus]

That's not limited to Finland. It is happening everywhere.

[Mormolyce]

Qualified workers are in demand and thus can pick and choose where they work.

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>Highly Qualified Immigrants come into Canada
>Canadians with similar qualifications face more competition
>Canadians move to other Countries.

Vicious cycle.

That's not how that works.

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Refugees tend to be a resource hog. I don't see why any country would take refugees for making up for native labor force deficits if they need more people working.

It's largely irrelevant, refugee populations in most Western countries are tiny per capita.

[Deleted]

That isn't limited to Finland AND is by no standard something new...

Things like this will always happen; unless their own country drastically changes and provides more incentive for young graduates to stay "at home".

[Lahis]

While Finland is a Baltic state, it tends to get bundled with the Nordics for various reasons.

Finland is a Nordic country, but we are not part of Scandinavia, because Scandinavian Peninsula is a geographic feature.

[Thermor]

Western European who immigrated to Finland here.

Finland is a pretty fantastic place to live. Yes, incomes are generally low and taxes generally high, but the social welfare system far outweighs that (for me at least). Short days in the winter kinda sucks but hey, there's snow which is pretty awesome. It's bright outside even at night in the summer, which makes the days feel so much longer.

The typical Finn reaction when I meet somebody is "Why the hell are you here?!?". That's not the say that they hate their country, its just a part of their culture/humour to be humble and self deprecating.

Finland of course has problems, every country does, but I think it's overall a great place to live. If lower income and higher tax means that I, my wife and my children have access to cheap healthcare, free education and social support, then I say it's worth it.

[Wikiy]

As many have pointed out, brain drain of this sort is nothing surprising, especially since Finland is part of a single market that not only allows but also stimulates the movement of peoples. There is only one way for smaller countries to continue thriving and reaping the benefits from their smart people (and those from other countries too) who are no longer in their country, and that is to be part of a federation. Federations automatically redistribute the gain from these smart people.

[Deleted]

Balls of steel.

[Zuben]

A citizen contributes to the whole, but it is not their prime directive. It sickens me how people planning to emigrate are treated here, like it's their duty to dedicate their life and work to the country rather than themselves. There were even talks about a "farewell-tax", where a significant portion of your assets would be transferred to the state in case you moved to another country. Thankfully it wasn't passed.

The problem with welfare state is that it provides most to those who contribute the least, and least to those who contribute the most. That's why the best and brightest leave.

[Deleted]

I don't understand peoples obsession with borders and staying inside it as if it's a crime to leave your birth country. I'm pretty sure Finland still got a lot of talent, as the country has some of the highest quality of life in the world. It's also the most metal country on earth, that alone makes it a great place.

//Someone from Sweden, who wants to move to a mountan village in Slovakia or possibly an exotic island somewhere in the Atlantic. Both are possible since I make my living online.

It actually is really bad when people do that cause you have to be a realist. First, most people don't migrate to enhance their destination country, they just leave poor countries to get into rich countries and doing that weakens both countries. The origin country cause they will lose people who might contribute to making their own country better making it even crappier than it is already.

And second, not all cultures are equal or compatible. If you get rid of borders, so just because you are willing to get along with them, doesn't mean they wanna happily dance under a rainbow with you. I mean do you wanna turn Sweden into Somalia? Or hell even into Turkey?