Lithuania's membership in the EU
The Impact of the EU Membership
Impact on the labour market of Lithuanian public sector employees
Impact on the labour market of Lithuanian public sector employees
Public Policy and Management Institute researched the reasons of the highly qualified employees’ emigration from the sectors of public governance, healthcare and education and offered recommendations for state institutions.
According to the data provided by the Department of Statistics at the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, more than 300,000 of the Lithuanian population have left since the re-establishment of independence, but the extent of the highly qualified specialists’ emigration and, moreover, the reason underlying it have not been researched in greater detail so far. The study is based on the results of a public sector employees’ survey carried out in October 2006; it also built on the interviews with human resources specialists from the sectors in question, statistical data and previous studies.
It is estimated that up to 4% of the highly qualified public sector employees (those holding a university degree) may have left during the period of two recent years and additional 7.5% are also intending to do the same in the coming three years’ time. Among those who left relatively the highest proportion had been employed in the sphere of education, healthcare and social work. It was found that employees below the age of 35 and having less than 10 years work experience were somewhat more likely to emigrate.
Lithuania’s integration into the EU has enabled the highly qualified public sector employees to leave first and foremost because the EU membership has guaranteed the acknowledgement of their qualifications acquired in Lithuania. The biggest incentive to leave is obviously the low pay. The employees also feel underestimated due to the fact that their salary is not linked to the results of their work. In addition, they are adversely affected by the ongoing reforms that demand they constantly adjust to their changing working environment.
The conclusion is thus drawn that in order not to lose the qualified labour force employed in the public sector first and most of all wages should be raised for the specialists in education, healthcare and social work. It should be stressed that salaries should be first raised for young employees that have started working recently and are more prone to leave at the moment.
