Schroder invites a brain drain
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder's "invitation" for up to 20,000 Indians and Eastern Europeans to fill vacant spots in his country's information technology (IT) sector caused a storm of controversy, with one major technical school accusing the German politician of deliberately trying to suck computer talent out of Poland.
In a speech at the opening of the international IT fair CEBIT in Hanover, Schroder said clearing the way for immigration from such countries would help turn Germany into an IT leader. In mid-March, the German government announced plans to recruit computer specialists from outside the European Union (EU).
British recruiting executives have also appealed to their government to loosen restrictions and allow skilled computer labor to work in their country.
In addition to saying that Schroder's proposal threatened the development of Poland's bubbling computer industry, officials at Krakow-based technical university Akademia Gorniczo-Hutnicza (AGH) also said the chancellor was looking for a way for Germany to benefit from an educational system capable of turning out top IT talent without having to foot the bill.
"It means that we are educating (a workforce) free of charge for German needs," AGH said in its statement.
Poland's heavily state-funded educational system makes it easier for individuals to get access to higher learning, AGH said in its statement. The average annual cost of studying at a technical university in Poland came to zl. 6,585 ($1,642) in 1998, according to Education Ministry estimates. On average, the total cost of educating an IT specialist in Western Europe amounts to $200,000, according to data quoted by AGH academics in their statement.
"What Chancellor Schroder really asks for is financial aid for the German industry," AGH stated.
If Germany does open the gateway for computer workers, Poland would be stuck paying for educating its neighbor's workforce, said Lidia Maksymowicz, professor and dean of AGH's IT and electronics department. While students have to pay for their living expenses, tuition in Poland is often free or very low.
"We teach people free of charge and now they get 20,000 job offers from Germany, where studying is much more expensive," she said. "Let's not forget about the difficult financial situation of the academic community in Poland compared to Western countries."
But it is doubtful whether allowing a free flow of IT workers would actually cause a brain drain, said some in the industry. Financial conditions and opportunities no longer vary widely between Poland and Western Europe, and many Polish IT workers can find competitive salaries and benefits in their own country, executives said.
"That's why I don't think there will be an exodus of Polish IT specialists to Germany," said Rafal Styczen, co-founder of Krakow-based ComArch, a publicly traded IT company. "Those who already graduated and understand that they can commercialize their ideas here in Poland will stay."
Schroder's initiative is aimed at overcoming a shortage of more than 75,000 specialists in Germany's computer and hi-tech sector. But Poland is also plagued by the same problem, industry executives said.
Members of the Polish IT chamber's council, Rada Polskiej Izby Informatyki, emphasized that many IT firms in Poland are having difficulty finding people. Opening up the possibility of emigrating to Germany would only worsen the situation. "Within a year, Poland could lose up to 10,000 IT specialists and that exceeds the number of yearly graduates in this branch," the council said in a statement released last week. While close to 30,000 graduate from technical universities each year, only a small portion specialize in IT. Out of AGH's yearly 600 graduates, only about 120 focus on IT.
The lack of government subsidies for IT and telecom research is also perceived as hampering the sector's development. Out of the Scientific Research Committee's (KBN) 2000 budget of zl. 3.05 billion ($740 million), only zl. 84.5 million ($20.6 million) is slated for IT and telecom work. "All we do is fairly distribute the little we have," said Tadeusz Zaleski, KBN's spokesman.
The AGH is now seizing the opportunity presented by Schroder's comments and asking the Education and Foreign Ministries to create a multi-billion-dollar fund to support IT education in Poland. The school was unclear on how additional funding for education would help to prevent an exodus of graduates.
AGH said Polish universities are actually somewhat hamstrung by their low tuition requirements. The low fees have resulted in greater demand for education than the universities can fulfill, AGH said. It estimates that only 20% of students wanting to study IT are able to do so, as universities limit the number of places available.
While everyone seems to fear the impending brain drain, no sucking sound has become audible yet. Headhunters said they have not seen any renewed initiative to recruit Polish IT specialists. "I have seen no kind of animation on the market so far," said Wojciech Kruszewski, president of Recruitment International. "Obviously, the potential interest is big but everybody keeps asking on what conditions Germans are going to invite Poles whether they will be employed on equal and fair conditions."
Others said that with impending EU membership, it is only a matter of time before labor flows freely between Eastern and Western Europe. "Talented people will always look for better financial conditions and (a brighter) perspective for development," Kruszewski said. "The export of highly qualified labor might be potentially very good business for us, although it's still a margin today."
