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Skill drain from ASEAN countries: can sending countries afford?

Author

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  • AKM Ahsan Ullah

Abstract

Purpose - Migration of skilled workers to other countries remains a highly contentious issue. Skill drain does not take place based on skill surplus and deficient equation. Skilled migrants can make their choice to migrate on their own with minimal control of the Government. This paper aims to argue that sending countries lose skill which cannot be offset or justified by the remittances inflow. Design/methodology/approach - This paper is based on a research conducted on skill migration from the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. In this study, skilled migrants are engineers, medical doctors, nurses and academics. The author interviewed 12 engineers (four from the Philippines; two from Malaysia; four from Singapore and two from Thailand); nine medical doctors (four from the Philippines; three from Singapore, one from Malaysia and one from Thailand); eight nurses (six from the Philippines and two from Thailand); and 14 academics (six from the Philippines; five from Singapore and three from Malaysia) who were working abroad. Findings - Skill migration continues to grow because of the growing demand, wage differentials, glorifications of the contribution of remittances to development and failure of the origin countries to retain them. The question remains whether the respective sending country is producing more of them so that they can send after their own demand is met. This paper investigates whether the sending end can afford exporting such skills. Originality/value - This is an important contribution to the scholarship.

Suggested Citation

  • AKM Ahsan Ullah, 2018. "Skill drain from ASEAN countries: can sending countries afford?," International Journal of Development Issues, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 17(2), pages 205-219, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:ijdipp:ijdi-12-2017-0210
    DOI: 10.1108/IJDI-12-2017-0210
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    Cited by:

    1. Adetola Akinto, 2021. "Critical review of the use of financial incentives in solving health professionals' brain drain," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 10(4), pages 446-454, June.

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