brain drain

American  

Or brain-drain

noun

1. a loss of trained professional personnel to another company, nation, etc., that offers greater opportunity.

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brain drain British  

noun

1. informal the emigration of scientists, technologists, academics, etc, for better pay, equipment, or conditions

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brain drain Idioms  

1. The departure of educated or talented persons for better pay or jobs elsewhere, as in The repression of free speech in Germany triggered a brain drain to Britain and America. The term originated about 1960, when many British scientists and intellectuals emigrated to the United States for a better working climate.

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Etymology

Origin of brain drain

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

"When we search for jobs, we're not able to get any here. Brain drain is becoming the most important problem in our country," Sapkota warns.

From BBC • Mar. 12, 2026

"When I and others search for jobs, we're not able to get any here. Brain drain is becoming the most important problem in our country."

From BBC • Mar. 5, 2026

Brain drain: China is coming to Silicon Valley searching for tech talent.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 27, 2018

Brain drain, or the emigration of doctors from the developing to the developed world, is a concern for all countries in the Ebola hot zone.

From Scientific American • Jan. 22, 2015

Brain drain - skilled people desert, en masse, the fragmented economic system and move to more sustainable ones.

From After the Rain : how the West lost the East by Vaknin, Samuel