[国际新闻] 德国因人才外流而痛苦

贝内迪克特·托梅回想起他开始认真考虑离开德国的那一刻。那是2004年在法兰克福附近举行的一个新年招待会，特邀演讲者是一位知名的政界人士，他在演讲时哀叹，每年都有成千上万受过高等教育的德国人离开祖国。

44岁的托梅是一位工程师，当时经营着家族的电梯公司。“那像闪电一样击中了我。我问自己：‘别的地方前途更光明，我为什么要留在这儿呢？’”4 [# u) ^! Q5 J: N/ J
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去年12月，因为劳资纠纷，托梅决定移民加拿大。他希望加拿大广阔的空间能给他带来在德国找不到的机会。等托梅找到工作，他的妻子和两个儿子也会移民加拿大。: A- e' g1 t/ w6 y9 @
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多年来德国一直有人口外流的趋势，但最近成为媒体关注的热点问题。德国是人日老化和缩减现象最严重的西方国家之一。有迹象表明，近年来越来越多的专业人士离开德国，政界和工商界领导人告诫说，德国正失去最优秀的人才。

政府去年公布的数据显示，2005年移居国外的德国人为14.48万，与 2001年的10.95万相比明显增加。与此同时，回到德国的仅为12.81万，比一年前减少了近5万人。2005年成为近四十年来离开人数多于回国人数的第一年。

人口专家还说，移民的性质正发生改变。离开德国的不再是1990年统一以后离开东德到奥地利或瑞士餐馆打工的年轻的不熟练工人，而是医生、工程师、建筑师和科学家——正是德国与中国和印度等新兴国家竞争所需要的高级专业人土。

柏林人口与发展研究所所长赖纳·克林霍尔茨说：“这不仅是人数问题，也是人才外流的问题。在不远的将来，我们急需有才干的合格人才，来取代将在今后15－20年内退休的人。”, n$ m5 x, |7 G; Y8 | C" w

许多证据表明，德国对医疗、学术研究和工程领域的人才越来越没有吸引力。离开德国的人列举的原因包括：失业严重、劳动力市场僵化、官僚主义严重、税收高和经济增长缓慢。7 g7 p% U8 B6 T# Z% Z

在托梅看来，问题的根源要深得多。他说：“德国人太自满了，不希望改变任何事情。什么都要争个没完没了，到头来也找不到任何解决方案。”

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托梅和他的妻子认为，尽管到加拿大要一切从头开始，但他们相信孩子们会有更好的前途。csuchen.de$ P8 ^/ {/ v: x, O6 e# e: r; P

为增强德国的吸引力，默克尔政府正实行数项计划，包括创建更多有竞争力的大学以及吸引离开德国的研究人员回国等。csuchen.de- B- B+ _" Q. L. T; O. O2 O! `! ~
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Germany Agonizes Over a Brain Drain

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The Thoma family — from left, Constantin, Petra, Benedikt and Domink — is planning to move to Canada.% a2 `" x3 k  F9 g: X

ESCHBORN, Germany, Feb. 3 — Benedikt Thoma recalls the moment he began to think seriously about leaving Germany. It was in 2004, at a New Year’s Day reception in nearby Frankfurt, and the guest speaker, a prominent politician, was lamenting the fact that every year thousands of educated Germans turn their backs on their homeland.
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“That struck me like a bolt of lightning,” said Mr. Thoma, 44, an engineer then running his family’s elevator company. “I asked myself, ‘Why should I stay here when the future is brighter someplace else?’ ”+ N! ]# e7 I# N5 X/ `
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In December, as his work with the company became an intolerable grind because of labor disputes, Mr. Thoma quit and made plans to move to Canada. In its wide-open spaces he hopes to find the future that he says is dwindling at home. As soon as he lands a job, Mr. Thoma, his wife, Petra, and their two teenage sons will join the ranks of Germany’s emigrants.! E0 {6 Y( S; d) K1 r% O) B

There has been a steady exodus over the years, but it has recently become Topic A in a land already saddled with one of the most rapidly aging and shrinking populations of any Western nation. With evidence that more professionals are leaving now than in past years, politicians and business executives warn about the loss of their country’s best and brightest.
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Among the more popular programs on German television is “Goodbye Deutschland!: The Emigrants,” a 12-part series chronicling several families who have forsaken Germany for South Africa or southern Spain.csuchen.de4 g& G& b8 g) R& ^

The trigger for this latest bout of angst was the release last fall of new government statistics showing that 144,800 Germans emigrated in 2005, up from 109,500 in 2001. At the same time, only 128,100 Germans returned, a decline of nearly 50,000 from the year before. That made it the first year in nearly four decades that more people left than came home.