this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2023
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As Canada recruits Filipino nurses, those left behind struggle to care for patients (www.cbc.ca)
submitted 2 years ago by sik0fewl@kbin.social to c/canada@lemmy.ca
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The Philippines is dealing with a nursing shortage as countries like Canada recruit within its borders. When the nurses leave, it causes a ripple effect on those left behind in the Philippines.

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[–] SkepticalButOpenMinded@lemmy.ca 25 points 2 years ago (4 children)

I’ve always felt this system was morally dubious. A poorer country spends public money and social resources to educate their population and a rich country like Canada actively recruits them once they’re already trained, sometimes just to be Uber drivers who can’t get their certifications recognized. Meanwhile, Canada saves money on training their own nurses (and other professionals). Even straight A students can have a hard time getting into nursing programs because there aren’t enough spots. As usual, we underinvest.

Canada has literally the most educated populace in the world, but I’m not convinced we’re using all that human potential efficiently.

[–] Chetzemoka@kbin.social 13 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Almost 10% of the entire GDP of the Philippines is the money those overseas workers send home:

https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/Philippines/remittances_percent_GDP/#:~:text=Remittances%20as%20percent%20of%20GDP&text=For%20that%20indicator%2C%20we%20provide,from%202021%20is%209.31%20percent.

You're not wrong about the fact that we underinvest in training our own population to do this work though.

[–] SkepticalButOpenMinded@lemmy.ca 8 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I genuinely don’t know if remittances justify the brain drain, either economically or morally. Are they really better off sending their most educated people overseas? Do remittances lead to the development of a sustainable long term economy?

[–] Chetzemoka@kbin.social 5 points 2 years ago

I don't know that it's better; just pointing out that it is kind of how the country works right now. Around 10% of their entire population works overseas at any given time. And those higher paid workers like nurses can bring a lot of value to their families back home.

Is it right? Is it a good idea? I can't speak to that. But the country has developed an entire administration to deal with it:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overseas_Filipinos#:~:text=This%20number%20constitutes%20about%2011,be%20young%20and%20gender%2Dbalanced.

(I work with a lot of Filipino nurses who have explained some of this mentality to me.)

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