Brendan O’Shea looks at what motivates migrant workers to seek new lives abroad - and what causes others to stick it out at home
Workers from developing countries who possess high skill levels and an adequate education face the choice of whether to benefit their family or their nation.
There is more money available abroad to migrant workers than they could ever earn in their home countries. However, their moving away often prompts a ‘brain drain’ that takes away their home nations’ chances of profiting from their abilities.
Most workers in developing countries will elect to reap the benefits of their skills by moving abroad to earn a suitable wage, more than they could earn at home. Along with this, there’s the fact that migrant workers can send remittances home to support their families.
These payments are often crucial to developing economies. In many cases, remittances count for the second largest financial inflow to many developing nations. Similarly, access to remittances allows such families to have access to financial services that would otherwise not be available to them.
An interactive graph on the BBC website that provides an in-depth look at a variety of countries and their most demanded professions show that nursing is the job in most demand, as countries the world over seek both home-trained and migrant workers within the field. Engineers, doctors, IT specialists, and accountants round out the top five most demanded jobs globally.
Eight migrant workers were profiled for the BBC study. One such worker – Rebecca, a Filipino nurse working in the US – praises the advantages that working abroad has provided her.
“It’s like living a dream life here,” she says. “I love my job. We just bought a house. We can travel when we want to. We spend the money we work hard for. We provide good education for our children. We are able to help our families in the Philippines if need be.”
The decision of some workers to stay home has national benefits as well. Primarily, these workers can provide their home nations with the skills they have to offer. Moreover, studies show that those who stay home typically pursue a longer education, in turn leading to a higher quality of work.
The downside of course is that these workers earn minimal wages, hindering a greater quality of life. So the opportunity to spend one’s life at home with family is understandably interrupted by the risk of poverty, or at least the knowledge that there is more money available abroad.
Many feel they have no other choice but to leave. Ireland, for example, faces a 14 per cent unemployment rate today, leading many Irish nationals to be enticed by foreign opportunities.
By and large, workers who leave home for better job opportunities are simply doing what is best for them and their families. Those who choose to stay home are likely doing the same, for different reasons. It would be wrong to associate people on either side with one perception or another, considering they all have in mind the best interests of those around them.
Brendan O’Shea is an intern with Metro Éireann from the United States.
