This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Brain drain is over in Scotland - FM
09/09/2005
The percentage of Scots graduates who opt to live and work in their home country has risen by 10 per cent over the last six years, implying that there is no longer a 'brain drain' of native talent, a special Business in the Parliament conference at Holyrood heard today.
First Minister Jack McConnell told an audience of business people that Scotland's best assets were its people and while 79 per cent found work in Scotland in 1999, that figure has increased to 89 per cent in 2005.
"That increase is remarkable in six years, but I think it is only a start," he said. "But we shouldn't limit young Scots' ambition to stay in this country and work. We want them to go elsewhere and get new ideas, but we also want to attract more from elsewhere to come here too.
"That is why the report last year of a 26,000 increase in our population - 15,000 from elsewhere in the UK and 11,000 from beyond - is so significant.
"The attraction of Scotland as a location for new people, bringing people into his country rather than draining our best talent away, will make the big difference for Scotland in the years to come.
Mr McConnell also spoke about the need to support a culture of enterprise and how a dialogue with the business community had influenced investment decisions on transport, especially direct air routes, on education reform, and on things like Modern Apprenticeships.
He said:
"Our best assets in Scotland have always been, will always be, our people. We will use devolution to promote Scotland as a modern dynamic country with a fantastic past but with a significantly better future too."
Read the full text of FM's speech