Brain drain’s economic price

KERON ROSE, 37, is leaving. The digital marketer, podcaster, blogger and Business Day columnist announced weeks ago his intention to relocate after being based in Trinidad and Tobago for a decade.

Citing the ongoing foreign-exchange situation and the crime crisis, he said, "I need an environment that fosters my growth. Thailand provides access to a thriving expat community, proximity to top tech regions and a cost of living that will give me more flexibility in building my business."

Mr Rose is hardly the first person to emigrate. His reasons for doing so, however, shine fresh light on the longstanding, yet rarely discussed, issue of human capital flight or "brain drain" and its adverse impact on economic productivity.

"Trinidad nice" – that is a saying you hear a lot whenever the quality of life here is discussed.

Our diversity, landscape and its flora and fauna, the warmth, beauty and culture of our people – we are taught to appreciate all this, especially in contrast to the harsher realities of life "out there" in the wider world.

At the same time, we are a society that often boasts about the achievements of TT nationals who have left us: from Nicki Minaj to Sir Trevor McDonald.

With our industrial-relations landscape lagging behind the rest of the world – salary negotiations still follow outdated rules; basic protections against discrimination on the basis of gender and sexual orientation are never enforced or nonexistent – it is little wonder people who are in a position to leave opt to do so.

There is a sense that we can reach untold heights and thrive after migrating abroad.

Such individuals do not necessarily live under the illusion that life is easier in countries where they will face a different set of challenges. Rather, they wager that they will simply have a better chance of success, given their interests and skill sets, and given stronger measures to combat things like nepotism and corruption, as well as more advanced systems that prioritise ease of doing business.

This has had an enormous impact locally.

According to data sourced from the Fund for Peace, based in Washington, DC, this country has consistently scored highly on the human flight index.

The latest value from 2024 is 6.7 index points (with a score of 0 being low and ten high).

In comparison, the world average is 4.98 index points. Historically, the average for TT from 2007-2024 is 7.37 points.

Remote work is now a way of life. In a sense, Mr Rose’s departure reflects the modern realities of a paradigm that has shifted because of the dawn of the internet.

And yet, if this is so, the question then becomes why this country, unlike our neighbours like Barbados (which offers a remote work visa) has made seemingly little headway in introducing measures to encourage skilled workers to come to our shores, contribute to "brain gain" and bolster revenues.

That would at least help to balance the flow.