The brain drain is not an exclusive phenomenon in Mexico, but it becomes more evident when professionals emigrate elsewhere to dedicate themselves to any other matter, except what they dedicated years of study to. Erick Ibarra, an engineer graduated in Mexico, shared on TikTok that in his country of origin he received 12,000 pesos a month (about 652 dollars), while when he moved to Canada to sell chickens, he received about 50,000 pesos a month (just over 2,700 dollars).
The debate has been moved to other forums of social networks, where several users shared their experiences working in other professions that do not require university academic training. Mexico is, in fact, the main emitter in Latin America of qualified migrants (people who have completed tertiary education) to member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
According to data from Labor Observatory of the Ministry of Labor and the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness, a professional specialized in pedagogy receives an average salary of 8,873 pesos per month, while he could earn around 45,000 pesos for doing the same job in the United States, according to the figures offered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of this country.
“There is a precariousness of the professional work of professionals and I would say that in all careers,” he says Armando Pineda Osnaya, Postgraduate Coordinator of International Relations at the Autonomous Metropolitan University (UAM). “Mexico adopted for about 30 years or so an economic model that has cost it to compete in the world with low wages and not technological progress,” he says.
In addition to being the leading issuer of skilled migrants in the OECD, another piece of data illustrates the wage asymmetry: 13.5% of Mexicans with a postgraduate level are in the United States. This phenomenon coincides with a boom in the number of Mexicans who achieved master’s and doctoral degrees, which increased from 354,000 in the year 2000 to more than one million people 15 years later.
The UAM researcher himself has experienced job insecurity firsthand. “In Germany, after finishing my doctorate, I had the opportunity to stay and work at the Alexander von Humboldt University in Berlin. If I had stayed, I would be a definitive teacher there with my life fixed, while in Mexico you have to fight, ”he says.
Although for the specialist it is a condition that can discourage young people from continuing with their professional studies, the implementation of labor policies by the Government could encourage more and better paid professionals. “A young person who has gone through the university has a different attitude towards life than someone who has not gone through the university, which is why I believe that more educational spaces should be opened for young people with better opportunities for growth”, he reflects.
In addition to higher salaries in the United States, another of the conditions that determine talent migration has to do with the possibility of being more competitive with better work environments. “Education is seen here as a privilege, when in reality it should be a way of life”, concludes Pineda Osnaya.
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