Across much of emerging Europe, brain drain remains an enduring concern. Since the early years of transition from planned to market economies, talented people with ambitions for brighter futures have sought opportunities in Europe’s more affluent west—or further afield.
This exodus of skilled professionals raises urgent questions: how can emerging Europe reverse or at least mitigate the flight of its best and brightest? And what policies and initiatives have proven most successful in keeping talent at home, or luring it back?
In recent years, governments, businesses, and civil society groups from Sofia to Belgrade have experimented with fresh ideas to solve this problem.
Some strategies focus on improving economic opportunities, others turn to education reforms and partnerships with foreign investors, and still more set out to modernise public services and cultivate national pride.
These efforts, in certain corners of Eastern Europe, have begun to yield promising results—and to offer the rest of the region instructive examples in tackling a phenomenon that has shaped local labour markets for over three decades.
A continent divided by opportunity
Europe’s East-West economic disparities have historically tempted skilled workers to migrate westward. Despite infrastructural upgrades and periodic economic booms, many parts of emerging Europe still struggle with comparatively low wages and limited opportunities for professional development.
In 2020, for instance, Eurostat data revealed that average monthly net earnings in countries such as Romania, Bulgaria, and Croatia were only a fraction of those in Germany, Belgium, or the Netherlands. This discrepancy, in the eyes of many young professionals, inevitably draws them away from home.
The brain drain effect goes beyond economics. Poor career prospects might be the largest push factor, but many emigrants also cite dissatisfaction with local governance and socio-political climates. Corruption, underfunded health care, and outdated education systems all feed into a cycle of resentment, propelling people to leave.
Meanwhile, companies in Germany or the United Kingdom can offer more advanced training, better working conditions, and a secure future.
Although the EU’s freedom of movement facilitates this westward migration, some countries in emerging Europe have discovered policy tools that stem the tide—or even pull professionals back.
Indeed, there have been instances of ‘brain gain’ programmes, as well as fresh impetus by the private sector, that have flipped the dynamics. Observing the playbooks of these success stories offers a glimmer of hope for the rest of the region.
Tax breaks and talent incentives: Romania’s tech renaissance
One of the most visible examples of reversing brain drain hails from Romania’s tech industry.
At the turn of the millennium, Romania lost thousands of engineers each year to better-paying jobs in Western Europe and America. But in the past decade, a growing stable of homegrown IT and software development firms—coupled with the arrival of multinational tech giants—has spurred a revival of local talent retention.
According to data from the Employers’ Association of the Software and Services Industry, the Romanian technology sector has become the country’s second-largest exporter, generating robust growth in urban hubs like Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, and Iași.
Romania’s government helped pave the way by granting tax exemptions for IT specialists, lowering corporate taxes, and supporting technology parks that cluster start-ups alongside global players.
These measures have made it easier for entrepreneurs to set up shop and for skilled workers to find well-paid employment without leaving the country. The results have been striking. Whereas Romania still grapples with outmigration in other fields—particularly health care—it has effectively curbed the exodus of IT professionals.
What was once a negative spiral has morphed into a virtuous circle, as returning diaspora members inject capital and know-how into emerging tech centres.
However, since January 1, 2025 tax breaks for IT workers have been removed—it remains to be seen if this will impact the labour market and spark a new exodus of talent.
Reforms in education: Poland’s upward trajectory
Poland’s trajectory is another instructive tale. Unlike some neighbours, Poland avoided the worst effects of the 2008 financial crisis and has steadily climbed the ladder of EU living standards.
At the core of this success is a robust education system that has undergone sweeping reforms since the 1990s. Today, Poland’s higher education institutions regularly rank among the continent’s most improved in global surveys, and the country boasts a pipeline of well-trained graduates in engineering, science, and business.
These reforms did not happen overnight. Successive governments prioritised teacher training, modern curricula, and partnerships with foreign universities. As a result, Warsaw, Kraków, and Wrocław have become magnets for international companies looking to tap into Poland’s talent base, reducing the impetus for young Poles to seek education and careers abroad.
At the same time, the rise of Polish entrepreneurship—whether in advanced manufacturing or gaming—has given new graduates reasons to remain local. By coupling education reforms with investment incentives, Poland has proven that targeted changes can mitigate the forces of brain drain.
A new deal for healthcare workers: Hungary’s strategy
Hungary has also wrestled with significant outmigration, especially in the medical profession.
Keen to work in modern hospitals with better pay, Hungarian doctors and nurses have historically moved in large numbers to Germany or the United Kingdom. But Budapest recently committed to robust salary increases for healthcare workers and better research facilities in selected hospitals.
The government’s plan, launched in stages from 2021 onwards, promised doctors a wage hike of up to 120 per cent and introduced incentives for them to remain in the public healthcare system.
Although the effectiveness of this plan is still being assessed, initial figures point to a decline in the number of departing medical professionals.
A stable local workforce is crucial not only for healthcare provision but also for sustaining other parts of the economy: a functional healthcare system is often seen as a prerequisite for the broader well-being and confidence of the labour market.
The lure of modern infrastructure: The Baltic connection
For the small Baltic states—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—the story of brain drain has been an existential worry since independence in the early 1990s.
The populations of these countries are modest and have had high rates of outmigration. Yet, success in the digital sphere, particularly for Estonia, has somewhat stemmed the outflow of skilled workers.
Tallinn’s e-governance model, widely lauded for its efficiency and transparency, has become a powerful calling card for tech-savvy professionals. Estonia’s success in digital public services, including online voting and tax filing, underscores the role that modern governance can play in building national pride and persuading young minds to stay.
Likewise, Latvia and Lithuania are seeking to emulate parts of Estonia’s digital model, while rolling out infrastructure projects to connect regional transport routes and energy grids with Western Europe.
The ongoing Rail Baltica project, an ambitious railway line that will link the Baltics with Poland and the rest of the EU, promises to boost trade, tourism, and international investments.
Such big-ticket initiatives signal forward-thinking strategies that can reassure local talent there is a future worth investing in back home.
Tapping the diaspora: Serbia’s reconnection efforts
Outside of the EU, Serbia presents an intriguing example of diaspora engagement to mitigate the impacts of brain drain.
According to the World Bank, Serbia’s emigrant population is substantial, numbering over a million worldwide. Many of these individuals went to Western Europe, Australia, or the United States in pursuit of better educational and job opportunities.
Over the last decade, however, successive Serbian governments have experimented with strategies to entice at least some of the diaspora to return, particularly those with entrepreneurial ambitions.
One such initiative is a diaspora investment fund, which offers matching grants to returning business owners who set up companies within Serbia.
There is also a push to improve bureaucratic procedures for diaspora returnees—such as simplifying the process of transferring professional qualifications and awarding tax breaks for new businesses.
As a result, a modest but growing number of young professionals have decided to move back and start technology or consultancy firms in Belgrade and Novi Sad. While a mass return remains unlikely, Serbia’s approach demonstrates how diaspora engagement can plant the seeds of a more vibrant local economy.
Lessons from success and the road ahead
The experiences of Romania, Poland, Hungary, the Baltics, and Serbia show that reversing or mitigating brain drain requires more than just a few policy tweaks.
It demands comprehensive strategies that address the economic, social, and infrastructural dimensions of professional life. Tax incentives can reduce the financial gap between East and West, but, on their own, they will not keep a generation rooted if the political environment is perceived as corrupt or unreformed.
Similarly, building high-quality universities is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for encouraging graduates to start careers at home.
Yet there is plenty of reason for cautious optimism. Over the past decade, many emerging European nations have moved up rankings in terms of quality of life, competitiveness, and innovation.
Homegrown start-ups—particularly in software, fintech, and e-commerce—have put the region on the global technology map. Multinationals have discovered that Eastern Europe’s talent pool offers a rich source of high-skilled labour, leading them to open new research and development centres.
That is not to say the job is complete. Many talented youngsters continue to regard the West as their springboard to success. In health care, engineering, and academic research, the outflow of talent remains acute.
Politicians in emerging Europe regularly talk up the importance of keeping local talent, but structural reforms can be slow to materialise, especially when short-term populism creeps into policy decisions.
Nevertheless, the story of the region’s brain drain is evolving. If the 1990s were about mass departures and diminishing hopes, the 2020s may well become about nascent reversals and renewed optimism.
Successful examples of mitigating talent migration demonstrate the importance of fostering an entrepreneurial climate, investing in education and infrastructure, and building confidence in governance and public services.
Along the way, governments are discovering that sometimes, the best ambassadors of a place are those who once left it—only to rediscover its charms and come back with fresh ideas and international networks.
In the end, reversing brain drain is more than a policy challenge. It is a broader project of national renewal, requiring trust in domestic institutions and belief in a shared future.
If countries in emerging Europe can continue down this path—modernising schools, building robust industries, and convincing the diaspora that local opportunities rival those abroad—then perhaps the term brain drain will one day be a historical footnote, rather than an ever-present threat.
Photo by Ross Findon on Unsplash.
