Pere Salvà, professor emeritus of human geography at the University of the Balearic Islands and one of the region's leading experts on demography and population, believes there is "a real brain drain" in the Balearics. "We have invested in the education of our young people, but in the end, other countries are the ones that benefit from this investment."
Figures from the National Statistics Institute indicate that 13,007 Balearic citizens live abroad, this number having risen from 8,442 ten years ago. And most of them are under the age of 40. Seventy per cent of these emigrants are in another European country, where there are more highly skilled job opportunities than those available on the islands.
"The Balearics have specialised in offering very low-skilled jobs, and when a young person has a high level of education, they have to emigrate because they can't find suitable job opportunities here," Salvà explains. This is the case with highly qualified professionals in nursing, medicine, computer science and engineering, among other fields. For this reason, those who emigrate go to the UK, Germany, France or the Nordic countries, as well as to the US.
"If we don't change the economic model, we risk this situation worsening beyond what we've seen this decade. The low-skilled workforce arriving in the Balearics is what interests some employers because they can pay lower wages.
"This is a precarious model, with low skill levels, but a large number of workers who also need healthcare, education, housing, and social services. We export talent and import low-skilled workers." If this model continues, the brain drain will persist. "It's essential to start addressing the need to build a higher-quality economy for residents."