Bright Flight

Eastern Europe losing workers to West


Companies attracted to cheap, skilled labor in places like Slovakia are finding workers harder to come by, reports the The Wall Street Journal (full story) on July 10, 2007. In Bratislava, known as Detroit East because of the large numbers of automotive-related factories, are having to bus in workers from as far as 60 miles away. Slovakia is one of several Eastern European countries to join the European Union in recent years. As skilled workers have emigrated to places like the UK and Ireland, Europe is rapidly losing its low-cost hinterland. Other countries facing similar issues include Poland and Hungary. Wages still remain as much as 34% less in these areas, but costs are increasing, causing companies to investigate investments in Ukraine, Bulgaria, and Morocco. GEO