The report, entitled “Labor Force Boomerang,” covers the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. It finds that the emigration wave has peaked and workers that emigrated in previous years will start returning home. This is due to a weakening of the U.K. economy, which has already started with the British pound. The CEE states will greatly benefit from this, says Colliers, as those returning will ease the labor shortage that is holding back economic growth.
However, CEE states have a lot of work ahead to fuel this trend.
“A combination of wage rises, low taxes, better governance and legal frameworks, more modern education systems, a more familiar cultural milieu and encouragement from governments could well be pull factors to encourage those who have migrated to return,” noted Peter Leyburn, EMEA director of client services at Colliers International.
Leyburn explained that this market dynamic, termed the “labor force boomerang,” is likely to translate into increased investment interest, provided that worker productivity can keep pace with Europe. This should mean higher demand for office and industrial real estate space and increased retail spending, he added.
According to Colliers estimates, 20% of Hungarians working in Western Europe live in the U.K., as well as 40% of Slovaks, 34% of Poles and 24% of Czechs. The company expects that as wages grow, and corruption and political instability in home countries decrease, the homecoming trend will amplify.
Producing journalism that is worthy of the name is a costly business. For over 30 years, the publishers, editors and reporters of the Budapest Business Journal have striven to bring you business news that works, information that you can trust, that is factual, accurate and presented without fear or favor.Newspaper organizations across the globe have struggled to find a business model that allows them to continue to excel, without compromising their ability to perform. Most recently, some have experimented with the idea of involving their most important stakeholders, their readers.
We would like to offer that same opportunity to our readers. We would like to invite you to help us deliver the quality business journalism you require. Hit our Support the BBJ button and you can choose the how much and how often you send us your contributions.
