Brain Drain?

 N-TV (commercial German news) had a business review yesterday, and it's an interesting piece to discuss.  

Presently, the general belief is that around 300,000 Russians have packed up and left Russia.  Who are they?  Computer geeks, engineers, scientists.  Yes, the people with 'brains'.

There's a think-tank looking over the trend, and they suggest that thousands more have the suitcases out, pondering over options, and more likely to leave....than to stay.

The suggestion here is that they were the people who were gifted, and helped to advance Russia in the past couple of decades.  The technology sector, the banks, and the well-qualified people who wrote content for newspapers and magazines.....aren't willing to stick this situation out.  

But adding to this....this is the one group which was never pro-Putin, and still had hopes that Russia would settle upon a 'friendly' path to the future.

Problems for the group with suitcases but haven't left yet?  Well.....yeah.  There's no easy access to currency.....most flights are cancelled....and this issue with language skills.  

So where does this brain-drain lead onto?

Lets say for the remainder of 2022....most of the packed-up individuals find a exit point, and carry out their plan.  By the end of 2022, I'd take a humble guess that the number gets to between 500,000 and 600,000 (includes the geeks and the families). 

The problem for Russia and its stagnate population....plus their harsh view on migration into the country....they can't readily replace people.  

You might be the CEO of a commercial TV network in St Petersburg, and discover over a weekend that twenty of your top hundred employees left.  You can manage the situation but then you come to realize.....there might be another twenty with the suitcases packed.  Trying to operate a sinking ship?  It's not practical.

You might be the 'boss' of a chemical company in Tamrov, and find on a Monday that eight of your key chemical engineers can't be found.  Some were working on a key process that would have a major move up in profits in the next year.  Without them....that process development is doomed now.

You might be the chief manager of a company that builds buildings and find that of your twenty top architects....half seem to have left the country over the weekend.  Your participation in sixty different projects over the next three years?  Crapped-out.

You might run a popular fashion magazine, and find that a dozen of your key photographers and content-writers....gone.  Trying to meet the schedule for the next copy going out?  Impossible.  

I would anticipate a major effort to hinder Russians on exiting the country to start shortly.  But there's probably already a massive amount of damage done. 

This list of things that Putin and his Kremlin folks have as problems?  It just grows....week by week.