RIGA - Gints Fricbergs is educated and articulate. He holds a Masters degree in Social Science.
He lives a comfortable life and works for a Riga-based multinational company.
He is also part of the new breed of young, professional Latvians who envision a future abroad, far from the country's worsening economic woes and political turmoil.
"I don't see the way out right now actually. I am at point zero. I am just starting my career, but I don't see the structure here to develop myself in the labor market," said Fricberg, a 26-year-old IT worker.
Earlier this month the Latvian Welfare Ministry warned unemployment rates could climb as high as 12 percent in 2009.
A recent European Commission report examining the impact of the global financial crunch singles out Latvia as the worst affected of the 27 EU member states, with GDP set to contract 6.9 percent in 2009 and a further 2.4 percent in 2010 (see story Page 12).
Faced with such dire predictions, many Latvians 's both unskilled workers and young professionals - are now seeking an escape abroad.
PROMISED LAND
Lured by the promise of higher salaries and better lifestyle, life abroad is proving an irresistible pull for many of Latvia's younger generation.
The project manager for Scandinavia at GPR Recruitment, Kaspars Puriens, said local interest in working abroad had skyrocketed in recent months, particularly amongst people aged 20 to 30.
Many are victims of economics, laid off as companies look to trim the fat in the wake of the debilitating financial crisis.
Puriens said the Riga-based recruitment firm, which offers placements in a range of industries in the United Kingdom, Netherlands and Scandinavia 's in spheres such as agriculture, shipping and distribution 's was being inundated by prospective job seekers.
On average one job vacancy is now attracting six to 10 applicants.
One recent opening in a Netherlands-based company drew a staggering 51 applicants.
"We've got more candidates, but it's also more work. We're receiving so many e-mails everyday we cannot reply, said Puriens.
"Here in Latvia we are not sure what will come tomorrow. Now more and more people are looking for a safe and stable life," he added.
Puriens said applicants were both unskilled workers and professionals seeking a new life abroad or struggling to repay bad debts accumulated in Latvia.
Although demand for unskilled labor had remained steady despite the economic situation spreading throughout Scandinavia and Western Europe, Puriens said professionals often struggled to meet the tough education and language requirements dictated by overseas firms.
But many ambitious, young Latvians remain undeterred.
A quick scan of popular Latvian social networking site Draugiem.lv reveals dozens of posts from hopeful job seekers requesting advice on a range of subjects from job prospects to visa issues abroad.
But is the lure of a life abroad enough to entice Latvians from their homeland and risk possible dislocation from family and friends?
If you're hungry and thirsty enough, you forget about those things," said Fricbergs.
"If you talk to young people, especially those that have already been abroad, then you will find that they are ready to pack their suitcase and just go," he adds.
Twenty-three-year-old Baiba Dzene made the move to London last October and hasn't looked back since.
Dzene, who holds a degree in structural engineering, said her decision to move abroad was based on economic and lifestyle reasons.
Now working for the U.K.'s largest architecture firm, Dzene said she has no immediate plans to return to Latvia.
"At the moment I'm very excited and satisfied with my work and life here. In Latvia I would be jobless or earning a miserable salary being happy that I have a job at all. So at the moment the answer is more than clear for me," she explains.
HARD TIMES
Extreme economic hardship saw hundreds of thousands of Balts leave en masse for the U.K. and Ireland throughout late 2004 and early 2005.
By 2006 an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 Latvians were working outside of Latvia, mainly in other EU countries.
The unprecedented levels of migration from the Baltic states sparked fears the region would suffer from the so-called "brain drain" phenomena.
Opinion remains divided over whether the latest economic crunch will lead to a similar exodus of Balts seeking financial security on foreign shores.
Some analysts, such as chief economist for SEB Latvia Andris Vilks, predict that tough economic times will drive a new wave of migration 's this time to Scandinavia, a region the Baltic shares close economic ties to.
For Fricbergs, who is considering a move to New Zealand, remaining in Europe is not a priority.
"The bottom line [salary abroad] is much higher than the mid-line, or even the top-line [salary in Latvia]. That is a big plus for moving away," he said.
Despite having stable employment, 26-year-old Riga government worker Liga Pilaga is also feeling the pull of life abroad.
In what has become a daily ritual, Pilaga scans the "positions vacant" listings in the hopes of finding an appropriate position abroad.
Although her plans are based more on lifestyle than economic reasons, Pilaga concedes to a growing disillusionment about the future.
"If we think about the future of Latvia as a country, the picture is more blurred. Cynicism in politics and impunity of power holders really kills a lot of optimism and is one of the reasons why many people don't look with hope on Latvia and go abroad," she said.
TOUGH TIMES
However, with the worldwide economic crunch spreading its tentacles across Europe, Norwegian recruiter Tor Bernhard Slaathaug said displaced Baltic workers may well have to put their dreams of life abroad on hold.
The project manager for a Latvian-based, Norwegian owned recruitment firm paints a grim picture for both employees and recruiters in coming months.
"Normally I'm an optimistic person, but the next months for the recruitment business will be horrible. There will be a lot of people without jobs and no new jobs [opening] abroad because now the financial crisis is hitting Western Europe with full force. It's really black. If the autumn was hard than you can just about double or triple that for the next six months," he said.
Less than a year ago Slaathaug, who recruits workers for Norwegian distribution companies, said finding candidates had been a battle, despite the attractive salaries on offer.
He said many Balts preferred to work in the United Kingdom or Ireland where they already had established connections.
However, by summer, Slaathaug said there was a dramatic reversal to this trend. Since then, he says the number of job applicants has continued to rise.
A recent entry-level delivery job based in Norway drew 15 candidates.
Among the applicants were real estate workers, lawyers and engineers.
"The situation is on the side of those that recruit," said Slaathaug.
UNCERTAIN FUTURE
The recent mass riots in Riga which saw hundreds of youths storm Parliament and destroy property following a peaceful protest points to a wider discontent over the country's economic and political failings.
Young professionals contacted by The Baltic Times expressed a shared fatalism about Latvia's future and their role in it.
Dzene said the continued lack of transparency and worsening living conditions in her homeland was evidence the current Latvian government had failed its citizens.
"In Latvia there comes a moment when you just give up on this country. While these illogical things are happening people will keep going away," she said.
The long-term effects of the current economic crisis are yet to be measured, with analysts saying Latvia is still to hit rock bottom.
Whether the current situation drives a new wave of Baltic workers across borders remains to be seen.
But there is no denying that many of Latvia's potential leaders of the future have lost faith in their country's government and their ability to lead them through the dark cloud of recession.
"Some of my friends who have no work say that they don't feel that they are needed here in their country...We all thought that we are the next generation that will change the future of the country, but now we have learnt more, we understand that nothing will change," said Pilaga.
