Balearic concern over brain drain

And despite the recent decrease in the number of people out of work, the report states that the employment market flat lined at the end of last year and that once the Summer season ends, then the true reality of the employment situation will be known.

Where the biggest cuts appear to have been made have been in the service sector, according to the figures, there are nearly 5'000 less jobs in the service sector this year and bars, restaurants and hotels try to reduce their operating costs.

But what the Balearic business sector is worried about is that many young, qualified professionals are having to leave the islands to find work and may never return thus leaving the region with a shortage of highly qualified professionals.

And, this is not just happening here in the Balearics.
The unemployment rate for those between the ages of 16 and 24 has soared to 57.22 percent, and a record 27.16 percent overall, at the end of the first quarter as the country struggles through a double-dip recession sparked by the collapse of a decade-long building boom in 2008. From the beginning of 2012 to the end of March, some 365'000 Spaniards between the ages of 16 and 29 have left the country, according to the National Statistics Institute.

With Spain in need of a change in its economic model, the loss of young people with university studies represents the loss if “one of the key elements for growth, which is human capital.” “We can't have a situation where young people with higher education who can help revitalise sectors that Spain needs to grow, are the ones to abandon the country,” a government source said.