Summary
Portugal and other Southern European nations are struggling with a “brain drain” as young professionals migrate to wealthier EU countries for better pay and career prospects.
To counter this, Portugal plans tax breaks and housing incentives for under-35s, though many doubt these measures will be enough.
The talent exodus threatens tax revenue and labor markets, heightening Europe’s economic challenges amid population decline and low productivity.
Similar efforts in countries like Italy have seen limited success, as young workers continue to seek stability abroad despite incentives.
As someone from Germany, i strongly advise against moving to Germany. You get shit services, massive racism and shit weather. If you decide to come nonetheless, prepare to deal with no cell-phone coverage as you go by train or car across the country. Also the Trains are notoriously late and the highways are crumbling. It only takes some triple digit billions to catch up with the deficit in infrastructure investment.
Prepare to wait for up to a year for specialist doctors appointments. That is if the doctors you tried to visit didn’t all turn you down, because they are either overbooked or said that you look fine and southerners are just always dramatic.
And if you look like you could be from the Middle East, so if you are Spanish, Italian, from the Balkans, Latin America or any other place where people aren’t pale as fuck, prepare to be insulted, threatened and sometimes violently attacked in the streets.
When I was 18, over 20 years ago, I spent 3 weeks in Southern Germany. As a white American it was the first time I experienced racism, though mild. I will never forget the look the family I was staying with gave me when I told them my last name was Italian. When the mother asked me, she was hopeful my last name was Spanish and visibly disappointed when I said Italian.