Looking for greener pastures: Young Slovenians’ desire and motives to seek employment abroad

Work migration is defined as relocation to a foreign country with the aim of employment or engaging in profit-generating activities. The present study explores the desire of young Slovenians to find a job abroad, the characteristics and motives of individuals who have already thought about it, and the reasons why they would enter the labour market in their home country. 474 partici­pants, aged between 18 and 30, were included in the study, with the majority indicating they were students or pupils. More than half of the sample consisted of women. The data was processed both quantitatively using logistic regression and descriptive statistics, and qualitatively by coding into appropriate categories. The results show that 71.1% of the participants had already considered working abroad, and that these individuals were characterised by at least one of the fol­lowing: being employed, living closer to a national border, being single, having their own experience of working abroad, or having parents/guardians or friends with this experience. Young people are most likely to consider working abroad because of financial incentives and career opportunities, while family and social ties, cultural familiarity and language proficiency act as the strongest deterrents to leaving. The study addresses the issue of youth emigration and its impact on the Slovenian labour market, and suggests some measures, such as the introduction of a mentoring programme, which could encourage the retention of promising young people in their home country.