Brain Drain

Introduction

Brain Drain is a broad term used to describe mass migration of highly talented and skilled individuals from one country to another. The term is also used to refer to the mass departure of skilled professionals from one industry or organization to another to seek better pay and other benefits.

Types of Brain Drain

As mentioned above brain drain occurs at three levels – geographic, organizational and industrial. Here is a look at these different types of Brain Drain in detail:

Geographical Brain Drain

It is referred to the departure of highly brilliant and skilled individuals to another country in search of better paying jobs. It has a negative impact of their home country’s economy and overall development.

Organizational Brain Drain

The mass exodus of highly talented, skilled and creative employees from one organization to join another is referred to as organizational brain drain. It weakens the organization and toughens competition.

Industrial Brain Drain

It is the departure of employees from one industry in search of better jobs in other industries. It disturbs the working of the industries where brain drain occurs.

Factors Causing Brain Drain

There are different factors that cause brain drain at different levels. Though these factors are more or less the same, here is a look at these category wise:

Geographic Brain Drain

Here are the factors responsible for geographic brain drain:

Unstable political conditions of a country

Reservation system (in India) that denies good jobs to the deserving candidates and mostly provides high pay packages to the non-deserving ones

Low standard of living

Lack of good employment opportunities

Lack of good medical facilities

Organizational Brain Drain

It generally occurs due to the following reasons:

Lack of good leadership and management in the organization

Low or no scope of growth

Pay packages lower than the market standards

Lack of fair play while giving promotions

No appreciation for work

Stringent working hours

Unreasonable work pressure

Relocation to a remote place also causes people to look for job elsewhere

Industrial Brain Drain

Here are some of the top reasons for industrial brain drain:

Low salary package

Low growth prospects

Undue work load

Health hazards attached to certain industries

Conclusion

The factors responsible for brain drain have clearly been identified. All that needs to be done is to control these in order to overcome the issue. Among other things, there is a need to float better job opportunities in the market, offer pay packages at par with a person’s skill and create a healthy work environment to avoid this issue.