13% of the young Bulgarians prefer working abroad

UniCredit Group survey in CEE and Austria shows that Bulgarians’ expectations are for consistently stable economic situation in 3 years, but with no euphoria

According to the optimism-index: The young people of the region have positive outlook on the future

About 13% of young Bulgarians (up to 30 years) recognize working abroad for a limited period of time for the best opportunity for their career development. This shows the UniCredit Group representative survey of 15 000 people in 15 countries in CEE and Austria. 13% is the average percent of young people in the region willing to work abroad as well.

At the present moment only 1 % of Bulgarians students at foreign universities plan to return and work in Bulgaria. About 9 times higher is the number of these who want to move abroad forever or at least for a long period. Three countries, leaders in long term leaving willingness are Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and Slovakia – respectively with 16%, 13% and 11%. One in fifth of Romanians wants to work abroad as well, but their plans to live abroad are less long.

“The emigration willing is connected to the expectations for economic development in the respective country and to personal economic perspective”, says Martin Mayr, the deputy head of Market Research at Bank Austria, part of UniCredit Group. He explains the quite high percent of Bulgarians who want to leave their country for a long term with their expectations about economy development – stable, but with no euphoria.

To the question “What do you think about your country’s economy development in the next 3 years?” the most Bulgarians showed a moderate optimism.

“Neither positive, nor negative” is the answer of Bulgarians to the question about their expectations for the personal economic development in the next 3 years. In a regional aspect Bulgaria is in the “middle”, the most optimistic opinion of their country development have the young people in Kazakhstan and Romania. Kazakhstan and Romania young people along with Romanians are with the most positive view about their country’s development.

Youth confident of a positive future

Despite of the interesting differences between the countries, the results of UniCredit Group survey indicate a consistently positive trend between young people. In all studied countries the optimism-index is getting bigger between people in younger ages. For instance, value 52 shows the total Bulgarian population expectations to develop their economy, but value 57 is calculated among people up to 30 years. This difference is most noticeable in Poland with value over 8.

The difference is even more noticeable in the average value calculated for the item shows the expectations of young people different ages regarding their personal development. With a value over 70 is optimism-index in Kazakhstan followed by Romania and Poland with 69 and 66 in Serbia. In Bulgaria this index is close to the average value in CEE – 59.

“The changes in countries such as Kazakhstan and Ukraine are happening now, and the young generation sees this as their chance to be involved in the dynamic development,” says Ralph Müller, member of Bank Austria’s Management Board.

In general, according to the UniCredit Group survey the young people in CEE have a positive look on the future, show a high level of career flexibility and a willingness to be mobile. Young people aspire to work abroad, at least for a limited period of time and therefore they see the opportunities for development in united Europe, shows UniCredit Group survey.

“We are pleased to see that the young generation from CEE recognize inherent in a united Europe and know how to take advantage of them. Doing this, young people from CEE, a region with lots of potential, are creating the foundation for a successful future”, says Ralph Muller.

“Especially in Poland, Serbia, Russia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Bulgaria, but also in Kazakhstan, the young generation believes that their country is experiencing an extremely good economic development,” says Martin Mayr, the deputy head of Market Research at Bank Austria, member of UniCredit Group.

“Austrian young people hold a less euphoric view: they do not have a pessimistic opinion of economic development in their country, but they lack a sense of optimism.” The sentiment in Turkey is decidedly worse. In addition to a tense and unstable political environment, other causes for this sentiment are strong inflation, large price fluctuations and high interest rates. The attitude is likewise pessimistic in Hungary, where the extremely difficult economic situation following the necessary fiscal changes is clearly being felt.

Young people believe in self-employed initiative

Young people in CEE see self-employment as a very good employment alternative, shows UniCredit Group survey as well. A generation of self-made men and women is emerging, especially in Turkey, where 38 percent of population can clearly imagine being self-employed, as well as in Serbia (22%) and Hungary (22%). About 12% of Bulgarians consider the best opportunity for them to manage a self-made company in the next 3 years.

“In general, the majority of young people would like to work in their own country in the future, whereby this especially applies to young people from Slovenia, Russia, Ukraine and Austria,” says Mayr. “In addition, they select their future employers very carefully.” Between young people there is a very high level of interest in international companies entering for their country development.

UniCredit Group optimism-index

“The survey made for the first time but planned as regular once in the year give us the possibility to calculate an optimism-index. We can clearly see that, apart from a few exceptions, the young people in all CEE countries surveyed have a very positive view of the future,” says Müller.

UniCredit Group optimism-index has been calculated by taking into consideration expectations of young people regarding their own country development and of their personal economic situation. Optimism-index in Bulgaria, according to the UniCredit Group survey, is with value 58 among people up to 30 and it’s the same as average value for the region. On both ends is Poland with the highest optimism and Turkey where the optimism-index is the lowest.

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About UniCredit Group

With total assets of more than €1,000 billion, ranking among the top financial groups in Europe, UniCredit has a presence in 23 countries, with over 40 million clients, round 10,000 branches and some 180,000 employees.

In the CEE region, UniCredit operates the largest international banking network with over 3,900 branches and outlets, where more than 80,000 employees serve about 27 million customers. The Group operates in the following countries: Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkey and Ukraine.