Study Says Europe Needs to Attract the Skilled

I ran across this article on Euractiv, which is kind of a Brussels site for policy wonks. It said that a recently study from the Center for Transatlantic Relations shows that Europe is 'a magnet for the low-skilled'. I’m paraphrasing parts of the article here, since it is interesting.

“As globalisation puts increasing pressure on the European economy, business representatives discussed the best ways to maintain the EU's competitiveness at a conference in France. A key issue is how to attract higher skilled workers from abroad, EurActiv France reports… The vast majority of foreign migrants settling in the EU from developing countries are poorly-qualified (85%), it found. But highly-qualified workers choose the US, where they constitute 55% of foreign labour compared with 5% in Europe.”

This is interesting, but hardly surprising. Europe has traditionally said no on work and residency permits to just about everyone, but those from poor countries have still found their way in. If you’re going to attract highly-skilled people, you need to make it easy for them. At present, just about every European country goes its own way on the topic.

However, the fact that they are implementing these programs means that there is probably going to be some different conclusions if the study were to be run again in just a few years. When I first studied in France two decades ago (I'm not that old BTW), it wasn't possible to stay. Now, the country has a work permit free program for graduates and for those with jobs in certain sectors. Even the Czech Republic has had its own program of work permits and Green Cards, and it's going further later this year.

European governments are working to change things around.

“The French intend to push for the establishment of a common European immigration policy while at the EU's helm, including plans for an 'EU Blue Card' to encourage more high-skilled immigration,” says the article. Which is good, since the Blue Card would be a boon to companies of many sizes. At the same time, countries will still be able to do their own thing.

"There will always be winners and losers of globalisation but it has given a lot to Europe and particularly France," said Daniel Hamilton, the author of the Center for Transatlantic Relations study and a professor at Washington, DC's John Hopkins University. If citizens are to continue to support globalisation, then a social system to protect them from it must be developed at the same time, he added. Hamilton called on France to strengthen its support for small and medium-sized enterprises and invest more in research and development to improve its competitiveness in the global market.”

The thing is that Europe has marketed itself for so long as being closed and impossible to get to, that just telling people about all the changes and beneficial new work and residency programs could be a full time job in and of itself.

Here's a link to the original article.