Finland’s brain drain: what happens to small

countries when the talent leaves?

Young Finnish professionals are attracted to major European capitals. They move to Stockholm,
Berlin and Amsterdam, as well as farther away. The sun shines in Dubai; the world’s top organisations
and institutes are in New York and Washington. The occupations of these migrants are manifold:
bankers, graphic designers, computer engineers, photographers and researchers, to name only a few.

They leave Finland because of poor employment opportunities and future prospects. This has been
happening for a long time. Finns were moving to North America 100 years ago and to Sweden after
World War II – in both cases because growing economies needed factory workers.

The difference with today’s migrants is they are better educated and leaving a welfare state that ranks
as one of the best places to live in the world according to most indices. The likelihood of them
returning has nevertheless fallen sharply. Why?

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I conducted a survey of Finns living abroad aged 20 to 40 along with the Helsinki-based journalist
Johannes Niemeläinen. Of 799 survey respondents, only 19% saw returning as a likely option. This
was down more than 20 percentage points on a 2006 survey, which had also included retirees who
had settled abroad. When we compared only 20 to 40-year-olds, the decline was even sharper.

This comes at a time when working-age emigration from Finland has steadily increased. The net loss
of about 2,000 citizens in 2015 was almost four times that of 2009, and over half were university
educated. Interestingly, the majority of leavers were women. Put together, we are talking about a case
of brain drain that could have severe consequences.

The broken circle

A recent study of international perceptions of Finns working abroad found them to be highly
adaptable, linguistically talented and sought after. The Finnish welfare state clearly provides its
citizens with the skills and education to make it in the world.

The government’s logic has long been that a well-trained, healthy workforce will return the favour
later in life. Emigrants are supposed to come home with broader minds and international experience
and contacts, to the benefit of the economy as a whole. All countries become embedded in the global
economy one citizen at a time, goes the thinking.

But why would they go back? The cracks in Finland’s supposed virtuous circle are all too apparent.
The country attracts fewer immigrants from elsewhere in the EU than its Scandinavian peers. Even
Helsinki does not keep up with the competition, with the number of highly educated 30 to 34-year-
olds in decline. In other northerly capitals such as Copenhagen, Stockholm and London, the opposite
is the case.

Finland’s problem is not directly comparable to the mass migrations of workers in the past, driven by
vast demographic, political and economic upheaval from the likes of the world wars. It is also not the
same as the ongoing worldwide migration that we see from poorer to better off countries – which
sadly now includes the likes of Spain and Greece.

Instead, it speaks to larger structural changes in the postwar welfare state. Everything from retiring
baby boomers to the rising cost of healthcare to the economic crisis have forced the Finnish state to
cut back. The damage to the economy and the education system has encouraged young people to
move abroad.

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Several high-profile academics have left Finland in protest at the circa €500m (£439m) cuts to higher
education. Echoing this, we found that the likelihood of emigrants returning is down most sharply
among PhD holders – a decrease of 36 percentage points since 2006. These academics tended to
point to a direct correlation between cuts to education and their attitude to working in Finland. With
other sectors, we found the same kind of attitudes.

This illustrates that in the end, the question of returning home boils down to employment. And as
Finland celebrates 100 years of independence, most respondents felt that the experience they have
acquired abroad won’t translate into better employment back home.

Celebrations for 100 years of Finnish independence. EPA

The greater threat

Small welfare states like Finland are more dependent on their educated workforce than more market-
driven countries. If they don’t educate enough new people or recruit them from elsewhere, it will
create structural problems for the welfare economy such as the loss of foreign investment.

And in a system that is heavily funded by the central government, cutbacks affect everyone much
more than in a country where government spending is more concentrated on the poorest. This
increases the chances of the most talented people leaving, which in turn risks undermining the
country’s networks of knowledge and productive social relationships – often described as social
capital. This forms the foundation of the whole welfare regime and acts as a buffer against external
shocks, so there is a risk of system-wide effects.

Coupled with further pressure on the welfare state from the ageing population, these developments
have the potential to spiral irreversibly. We can liken this to oil leaking from an engine: it does not
affect the machinery immediately, but over time it could damage it beyond repair.

What then is the solution? In 16 follow-up interviews, we found our young professional respondents
remained tremendously proud of the Finnish welfare regime and worried about it. They might have
been drawn overseas, but they still very much believed in the system from which they had come.

This points to the possibility of new forms of solidarity and welfarism that might yet somehow benefit
countries like Finland. Tapping into this requires thinking beyond the nation state, create new
transnational welfare regimes either by reaching out to emigrants or by cooperating with similar
countries. This would of course be a radical shift. It may be necessary to prevent this brain drain
problem from turning into a full-blown catastrophe.

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 VOCABULARY:
Manifold -Many and of several different types:

EX:Despite her manifold faults, she was a strong leader.

Welfare-C2 help given, especially by the state or an organization,

to people who need it, especially because they do not have
enough money:
EX:Your taxes pay for welfare benefits such as unemployment and sickness pay.

Indices - plural of index

Nevertheless -B2despite what has just been said or referred to:

EX:I knew a lot about the subject already, but her talk was interesting nevertheless.

Respondent - a person who answers a request for information:

EX:In a recent opinion poll, a majority of respondents were against nuclear weapons.

Severe - B2 causing very great pain, difficulty, worry, damage, etc.; very serious:

EX:This is a school for children with severe learning difficulties

Perceptions - C2 a belief or opinion, often held by many people and based on

how things seem:

EX:We have to change the public's perception that money is being wasted.

as a whole - B2 when considered as a group and not in parts:

EX:The population as a whole is getting healthier.

Embedded - existing or firmly attached within something or under a surface

Virtuous - having good moral qualities and behaviour:

EX:He described them as virtuous and hard-working people.

Upheaval-a great change, especially causing or involving much difficulty,

activity, or trouble:

Boomer - a person born during the period between approximately 1945 and
1965 following the Second World War, when there was a baby boom (=
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a large increase in the number of babies born), also used to refer to
an older person in general

circa -(used especially with years) approximately

correlation - a connection or relationship between two or more facts, numbers,…

EX:There's a correlation between smoking and cancer.

Boil down to - If a situation or problem boils down to something, that is

the main reason for it

EX:The problem boils down to one thing - lack of money.

Recruit- C1 to persuade someone to work for a company or become a

new member of an organization, especially the army

EX:Even young boys are now being recruited into the army.

Fund -C1 to provide the money to pay for an event, activity, or organization:

EX:The company has agreed to fund my trip to Australia

Cutback - C1 a reduction in something, made in order to save money

EX:The closure of the Manchester printing factory is the

company's biggest single cutback so far.

Regime - C2 (mainly disapproving) a particular government or

a system or method of government:
EX:The old corrupt, totalitarian regime was overthrown.

Irreversibly - In a way that is not possible to change or impossible to return to

a previous condition

EX:The monument has already been irreversibly damaged.

Transnational - involving several nations:

EX:transnational crime/issues

Radical - C2 believing or expressing the belief that there should

be great or extreme social or political change
EX:He was known as a radical reformer/thinker/politician.

Catastrophe - C2 a sudden event that causes very great trouble or destruction

BRAIN DRAIN - the situation in which large numbers of educated and

very skilled people leave their own country to live and work in another one
where pay and conditions are better:
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