brain drain
Skilled worker exodus
Brain drain is the emigration of educated or skilled people from a country or region, typically to places offering better opportunities or compensation.
The metaphor suggests talent flowing out like water from a container: The brain drain to Silicon Valley has hollowed out tech sectors in smaller cities.
The opposite movement is sometimes called brain gain.
Leaving homeland permanently
- expatriationLeaving one's native country
- diasporaScattered population sharing origins
- outflowFluid exiting a system
- departureAct of going away
relocation · exodus · professionals · intellectuals · expats · emigrants · overseas · abroad
All available workers
- remittancesPayments sent abroad
- underemploymentInsufficient use of labor capacity
- investmentDeploying capital for returns
- competitivenessDrive to outperform others
Skilled, paid practitioners
- scientistsSystematic knowledge seekers
- engineersTechnical problem solvers
- physiciansMedical doctors collectively
- nursesMedical care professionals
researchers · academics · scholars · specialists · technologists · entrepreneurs · expertise · intellectuals
Favorable circumstance for advancement
- salariesFixed regular payments for work
- fundingSupplying monetary resources
- instabilityTendency toward unpredictable change
- persecutionSystematic mistreatment of groups
corruption · unemployment · underemployment · conflict · meritocracy
Organized provision of treatment
- technologyApplied scientific methods
- academiaHigher education community
- researchSystematic fact-finding effort
- engineeringDesigning functional systems scientifically
medicine · science · education · finance · IT · universities · hospitals · laboratories
emigration
Leaving homeland permanently
- expatriationLeaving one's native country
- diasporaScattered population sharing origins
- outflowFluid exiting a system
departure · relocation · exodus · professionals · intellectuals · expats · emigrants · overseas · abroad
workforce
All available workers
- remittancesPayments sent abroad
- underemploymentInsufficient use of labor capacity
- investmentDeploying capital for returns
professionals
Skilled, paid practitioners
- scientistsSystematic knowledge seekers
- engineersTechnical problem solvers
- physiciansMedical doctors collectively
nurses · researchers · academics · scholars · specialists · technologists · entrepreneurs · expertise · intellectuals · graduates
opportunity
Favorable circumstance for advancement
- salariesFixed regular payments for work
- fundingSupplying monetary resources
- instabilityTendency toward unpredictable change
persecution · corruption · unemployment · underemployment · conflict · meritocracy
healthcare
Organized provision of treatment
- technologyApplied scientific methods
- academiaHigher education community
- researchSystematic fact-finding effort
engineering · medicine · science · education · finance · IT · universities · hospitals · laboratories · startups
- migrationmigration, immigrants, refugees, immigration, emigration
- body metaphorsbackbone, blind spot, gut feeling, headache, heartbeat
- aging workforceaging workforce, older workers, mature workers, baby boomers, senior staff
- Caribbean diasporaWindrush, Afro-Caribbean, Cuban Americans, chain migration, transnationalism
- economic problemsmarket failure, recession, inflation, deflation, stagflation
- emigrationemigrant, emigration, economic migrants, emigre, political refugees