Migration must be addressed with a new Social Contract

According to interviews and surveys conducted not only by ALTAX, but as a summary of all findings by various authors, based on the latest statistics, emigration continues to be high. From our analysis during 2023, it seems that the main reasons for emigration, but also for internal migration, are:

– Economy (low standard of living, lack of a job market that pays well and offers opportunities for training and sustainability, as well as an ineffective pension system and quite inadequate for a dignified life)
– Education (ineffective and quality education to easily compete in foreign markets and high-paying businesses, as well as high cost of education with low benefit of quality and training of the new generation)
– Health (high cost of services and their low quality together with drug treatment)
– Political and social (better welfare, family reunification, cohabitation, marriage, lack of political stability, high corruption, quality of life, loss of trust in governance and politics, as well as lack of career prospects and dignified life)

Based on the reasons for migration, we must state that it is not a matter of dealing with the border and internal movement of citizens, but is closely related to dealing with reasons that are largely of an economic and social nature.

Recent changes in demographics and starting from the driving factors of migration can be seen to be different from just 10 years ago[1], being reflected in the social and demographic structure and in the quality of its flow. The desire to migrate is now highest among the following categories: young people in their 20s, those who are more educated and qualified, those who are employed with medium-high incomes.

This finding can be explained by the greater employment opportunities offered to those who are highly educated by the standards of the labor markets of economically, educationally and socially and culturally advanced countries. At the same time, this result also shows that educated and qualified people are not satisfied with employment prospects and working conditions in Albania[2].

From all the effects that come from these internal migratory movements, as well as the tendency of an immigration that sees a slight decrease, it seems that it has also given unsatisfactory effects in some directions.

First is the reduction of people in the most important inventory of a country, that of the citizen registry. The main impact is the departures, but also the birth rate, which has decreased. It has been influenced by the same factors that are similar to the influence of migration (family/individual economy, social policy, polarized politics), except that it is influenced by migration itself and emigration directly, for the reason that those who left are complete families or individuals who emigrate for employment opportunities and high income.

Second is the effect of maintaining a destabilized labor market. The migratory movement has a negative impact on the young age groups and the labor force, which due to migration is quite mobile. Internal migration tends to be offered to markets not only domestic but also abroad for better labor value payments.

As internal factors are the economic factors that have influenced the departure of families to economic areas with better living opportunities, but this is also related to participation in the labor market and the regional economy, which also reflects the general state of the economy (of income/spirit), which have the main influence on this deviance, but also the political will that changes over the years.

As external factors are the favorable economic conditions in the destination country, the prospect of higher wages, as well as better employment opportunities, education for young people, as well as the creation and increase of capacities and savings to ensure the future

The problem of migration has started to be felt even more in local businesses, as in the whole country, due to the departure of various specialists in the private and public sector, who require a high payment for their skills in the labor market. foreigner In this case, the Municipalities in coordination with the regional and central institutions should sensitize initiatives for a new relationship between employers and employees for retraining the salary and indexing it according to the current conditions of the economy under inflation, as a premise for starting a reform of the existing Social Contract.

Third is the shrinking of the consumer base, as a major contributor to the economy and economic development. If there is no national policy to address the impasse of the wage system in the private sector, which is valid for now, but more for the future, then this missing approach will create problems for basic consumption and that related to the share of sustainable investments of families and businesses.

The added value in the economy during 2017 – 2023 is seen to have fluctuated and with a low performance and not at all hopeful for the future, if we look at how it is distributed in its structure across regions. The economy of the Albanian regions is largely dominated by small agricultural and livestock economies and little economy related to real estate or underground/natural resources where nature has shown itself to be generous. This economy in the regions is mostly supported by local and central administration salaries with regional scope. But this whole panorama of the economy remaining in anemic conditions cannot produce optimism for high welfare in the future.

Meanwhile, in the absence of a well-paid generation that has the opportunity to save (and this does not depend only on the level of wages, but also on the maintenance of decent work standards), the influence of national policies and local programs is little effective. First these political programs must be brought up to date with the changes to prevent a future exodus.

According to the statistical indicators, there has been a continuous increase in income per capita in the various municipalities of the country, but the increases in income seem to be filled to a large extent by remittances and seasonal employment of residents abroad. The increase in per capita income at this level indicates a trend of development of well-being in standards that cannot cope firstly with the increase in the cost of living (due to the increase in prices, costs of living as a whole), and secondly the hope to claim for increased well-being. From our surveys for the years 2022 – 2023 from the citizens of municipalities in different areas of the country, it is perceived that the economic development has had an insensitive increase for families, which is at the same time insufficient to cover the various expenses for the continuity of businesses small or even increasing expenses for education and savings.

Some thoughts that we have also mentioned in our reports[3] are briefly listed below:

Although the various institutions have built mechanisms to monitor these gaps in the labor market and in all those influencing factors mentioned above, it seems that their synchronization and coordination to reach the users is left more to chance.

Past national sectoral strategies[4] and new ones[5], as well as local development strategies in preventing migration and promoting employment supply should be updated through the response of local government and organized citizen voice. The main development policy for promoting a stable economy and, as a result, quality employment is political stability and economic development based on inclusiveness,

There is a need, that first national sectoral strategies and local policies in function of diversification and development of an economy towards export should be activated through interconnected and updated central and local policies.

From all that we mentioned about migration, we will suggest an adaptation of capital investments from the state budget and the municipality/s to increase the intervention precisely in the minimization of the influencing factors for migration with complementary packages, as a very vital part already for the Development of stable of the country

The central government should offer packages by activating the local government through changing the approach to the practice of the Migration Strategy even more concretely for the youth, but also the whole age group that is most predisposed to emigrate, in terms of offers:

– for addressing economic reasons in the form of packages for sustainable work in sectors that are based on productivity,

– for addressing the reasons for education as a training opportunity, practice in branches necessary in the competitive market,

– for the accommodation of appropriate services and according to the specific request of the health and social sector, as well as

– opportunities to engage in policy-making and to keep them connected to their city and credit guarantees for housing and creating a new family.

In the meantime, the schemes must be coordinated with civil society, with business organizations, as well as finally be connected through the local government and regional directorates of the central government, further reforming the various services within an empowered personalized offer.

Of course, the problem of migration needs in-depth analysis and dedicated studies according to the type of problems and the intersection with daily life, but in all this approach we aim to encourage to start a national dialogue in the form of accountability for enabling the governance of open.

[1] unskilled and often unemployed people were mainly those looking for employment opportunities in unskilled jobs in Greece and Italy, while those who were educated and had a profession had more confidence in integrating into the Albanian labor market

[2] https://openspace.etf.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2021-10/Albanian%20version.pdf

[3] https://altax.al/shop/?orderby=date&paged=1

[4] https://mb.gov.al/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Strategjia-Kombëtare-për-Migracionin-dhe-Plani-i-Veprimit_2019-2022.pdf

[5] https://konsultimipublik.gov.al/documents/RENJK_676_relacioni-Strategjia-KM.pdf