London, Aug 30 (IANS) Britain has been hit by one of the worst brain drains in history, as a million qualified citizens now live in other countries like the US, Australia and Germany, a new report has said.
The report from immigration think tank MigrationWatch said the million people migrated from the country over the past 14 years, the Daily Mail reported.
It said professionally-qualified workers and experienced managers continue to make up the majority of migrants from Britain, numbering more than 50,000 in 2009.
The report put the number of British graduates working abroad at 1.1 million.
‘Britain suffers from a brain drain less serious only than Mexico whereby a significant proportion of its tertiary level educated go overseas to work,’ the report said.
The report said the need to import engineers means that British companies may be paying too little for its own highly qualified citizens.
A list titled ‘UK Border Agency Shortage Occupation’ includes civil engineers, mechanical engineers and electrical engineers in shortage of skilled people.
The government-funded healthcare system, the National Health Service, has claimed to be reliant on migrant labour, despite 27 percent of Britons having a health or education degree.
