The Turkish labor force, which began flowing into Europe in the 1960s and to Iraq and the Central Asian countries in the early 2000s, is slowing down, while the number of Turkish expats seeking job opportunities in Turkey has increased, according to a story in the Turkish daily Dünya.
According to a survey conducted by Eleman.net of 20,600 followers living abroad, the number of Turkish expats seeking jobs in Turkey increased by 35 percent in 2014 compared to the previous year, with one-third of them young people. The number of job applications, which was 156,000 in 2013, reached 210,000 in 2014, with the majority of them coming from the U.S. and European countries. Germany had the most with 15.1 percent, followed by the U.S., Azerbaijan, France and the Netherlands with 8.4, 8.2, 7 and 5.2 percent, respectively.
Those who want to avoid homesickness and make a living in Turkey primarily prefer big cities, with İstanbul having the largest share with over 50 percent. It is followed by Ankara with 8.9 percent and by İzmir with 8.4 percent. In this regard, tourism, education, IT, construction and the textile sector receive the greatest number of applications. Male applicants constitute 62 percent of all applications, and one-third of them are aged 25 to 29, joining business for the first time. Those aged 40 and over constitute 15 percent, and 36 percent of applicants are university educated, while 29 percent are high school graduates.
Eleman.net Managing Director, Savaş Ünsal, attributed this inclination to the economic performance Turkey has displayed in recent years. Commenting on the survey results, Ünsal said that this trend could be interpreted as the reversal of the outgoing Turkish labor force, which started in the 1960s when Germany opened its doors to immigrant workers.
According to Ünsal, a slowdown in labor immigration from Turkey to foreign counties accompanies re-migration. "Turkey becomes an important center of attraction as non-farm payroll data in the U.S. fell short of expectations and a pessimistic employment trend is seen in Europe," said Ünsal. He counted an inability to adapt,the improvement of job opportunities in Turkey, the feeling of homesickness and achieving sufficient savings as the motives that trigger reverse labor migration. Ünsal explained this tendency with a boost in confidence in the growing Turkish economy and with the benefits that are offered by foreign and domestic capitalized companies operating in Turkey.
